Top 200 Mario Puzo Quotes (2026 Update)
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201. “The Communists and Socialists, those misguided liberals, must be fought against, and that takes money.”

— Mario Puzo

202. “The millionaire turned out to be one of those elderly men always trying to be youthful. He wore red slacks and a miniature Stetson and had that five-martini affability.”

— Mario Puzo

203. “The Don nodded his head thoughtfully. Then he turned to his son and said gently, “Santino, never let anyone outside the Family know what you are thinking.”

— Mario Puzo

204. “Drop the gun, pick up the cannoli.”

— Mario Puzo

205. “When he had been made the acting Consigliori, the other powerful Sicilian Families referred contemptuously to the Corleone Family as the “Irish gang.” This had amused Hagen.”

— Mario Puzo

206. “Kay laughed. “Then why do you go every single morning?” In a completely natural way, Mama Corleone said, “I go for my husband,” she pointed down toward the floor, “so he don’t go down there.” She paused. “I say prayers for his soul every day so he go up there.” She pointed heavenward.”

— Mario Puzo

207. “Never let them know what you have under your fingernails. I think your brain is going soft from all that comedy you play with that young girl. Stop it and pay attention to business. Now get out of my sight.”

— Mario Puzo

208. “Do you know, by the way, that in show business the magician is considered to be completely without artistic talent?”

— Mario Puzo

209. “You gotta stop them at the beginning. Like they shoulda stopped Hitler at Munich, they should never let him get away with that, they were just asking for big trouble when they let him get away with that.”

— Mario Puzo

210. “What manner of men are we then, if we do not have our reason.”

— Mario Puzo

211. “Get in the car. If I wanted to kill you you’d be dead now. Trust me.”

— Mario Puzo

212. “Ah, Sicily, Sicily, he thought, you destroy your best and bring them to dust.”

— Mario Puzo

213. “It was from this experience came his oft-repeated belief that every man has but one destiny.”

— Mario Puzo

214. “Fill my head with any thoughts but those that fill it now.′ She could not yet cry, for her tears were far too deep to reach.”

— Mario Puzo

215. “Don Croce immediately led him into the garden, for like all Sicilians he ate his meals out of doors when he could.”

— Mario Puzo

216. “Nothing could hide the tiredness of their spirit and their flesh; time had eroded their godhead. They posed and moved as charmingly as he remembered but they were like wax fruit, they could not lubricate his glands.”

— Mario Puzo

217. “You hang around me, Mike,” he said, “you’re gonna hear things you don’t wanta hear.” Michael lit a cigarette. “I can help out,” he said. “No, you can’t,” Sonny said. “The old man would be sore as hell if I let you get mixed up in this.”

— Mario Puzo

218. “He reminded him that whatever sins were committed here on earth, no man must forget that eternal forgiveness awaited him if he were a proper Christian.”

— Mario Puzo

219. “Hagen saw Sollozzo’s face go pale, his eyes glitter with rage. He himself felt a thrill of fear. Sollozzo was looking at him speculatively and suddenly Hagen knew that he was no longer going to be set free. That something had happened that might mean his death. Sollozzo said, “The old man is still alive. Five bullets in his Sicilian hide and he’s still alive.” He gave a fatalistic shrug. “Bad luck,” he said to Hagen. “Bad luck for me. Bad luck for you.”

— Mario Puzo

220. “At this point Frisella, the barber, came out of his shop to join in the fun. Behind him was the Maresciallo, pompous and important, rubbing his smooth red face. He was the only man in Montelepre who had himself shaved every day.”

— Mario Puzo

221. “Do not count on the gratitude of deeds done for people in the past,” he remembered the Don lecturing him. “You must make them grateful for things you will do for them in the future.”

— Mario Puzo

222. “Strangers decide their lives.”

— Mario Puzo

223. “Michael stood up and yelled, “You lousy bastard, he’s my father. I’m not supposed to help him? I can help. I don’t have to go out and kill people but I can help. Stop treating me like a kid brother.”

— Mario Puzo

224. “The Cleveland syndicate, perhaps the most powerful of the strictly gambling operations in the United States, was represented by a sensitive-looking elderly man with gaunt features and snow-white hair. He was known, of course not to his face, as “the Jew” because he had surrounded himself with Jewish assistants rather than Sicilians. It was even rumored that he would have named a Jew as his Consigliere if he had dared.”

— Mario Puzo

225. “This guy is a personal friend of J. Edgar Hoover,” Johnny said. “You can’t even raise your voice to him.” “He’s a businessman,” the Don said blandly. “I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse.”

— Mario Puzo

226. “And now, as he looked deeply into Nicole’s eyes, he determined she was telling him the absolute truth.”

— Mario Puzo

227. “But there were too many factions, too many special interests that conflicted.”

— Mario Puzo

228. “My friend,” he said, “people like you and me meet face to face and kill each other. Our enemies are behind us.” He let his hand fall. “Our enemies are behind us,” he repeated bitterly, “and commit the crimes for which we die.”

— Mario Puzo

229. “Drugs kept people alive in a realm of dreams and hope.”

— Mario Puzo

230. “He’s a businessman,” the Don said blandly. “I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse.”

— Mario Puzo

231. “Newspapers are enlisted to heap scorn on the arrogant bastards who choose to beg instead of starve or let their children starve. It is made clear that the poor seek charity as a great and sordid chicanery in which they delight. And there are some who do. As there are some people who delight in sticking hot needles deep into their abdomens, swallow pieces of broken bottles. A special taste.”

— Mario Puzo

232. “How terrible man had been to his fellow man could be measured by the great exodus from what seemed to be a Garden of Eden.”

— Mario Puzo