“Friendship is everything. Friendship is more than talent. It is more than the government. It is almost the equal of family.”

“The other Dons in the room applauded and rose to shake hands with everybody in sight and to congratulate Don Corleone and Don Tattaglia on their new friendship. It was not perhaps the warmest friendship in the world, they would not send each other Christmas gift greetings, but they would not murder each other. That was friendship enough in this world, all that was needed.”

“In Sicily, women are more dangerous than shotguns.”

“Time erodes gratitude more quickly than it does beauty!”

“A lawyer with a briefcase can steal more than a thousand men with guns.”

“The lawyer with the briefcase can steal more money than the man with the gun.”

“One lawyer with a briefcase can steal more than a hundred men with guns ...”