Al Capone citations

“I've been accused of every death except the casualty list of the World War.”

“I have spent the best years of my life giving people the lighter pleasures, helping them have a good time, and all I get is abuse, the existence of a hunted man.”

“I'm tired of gang murders and gang shootings. It's a tough life to lead. You fear death at every moment, and worse than death, you fear the rats of the game who'd run around and tell the police if you don't constantly satisfy them with money and favors.”

“I'm a businessman. I've made my money supplying a popular demand. If I break the law, my customers are as guilty as I am.”

“Do I do business with Canadian racketeers? I don't even know what street Canada is on.”

“It seems like I'm responsible for every crime that takes place in this country.”

“People who respect nothing dread fear. It is upon fear, therefore, that I have built up my organization. But understand me correctly, please. Those who work with me are afraid of nothing. Those who work for me are kept faithful, not so much because of their pay as because they know what might be done with them if they broke faith.”

“You'd be surprised if you knew some of the fellows I've got to take care of.”

“I violate the Prohibition law, sure, Who doesn't? The only difference is that I take more chances than the man who drinks a cocktail before dinner and a flock of highballs after it.”

“Be careful who you call your friends. I’d rather have four quarters than one hundred pennies. ”

“I don't want to end up in the gutter punctured by machine gun slugs.”

“Every time a boy falls off a tricycle, every time a black cat has gray kittens, every time someone stubs a toe, every time there's a murder or a fire or the Marines land in Nicaragua, the police and the newspapers holler, 'Get Capone!' I'm sick of it. As soon as I possibly can, I'll clear out of here.”

“I'll go as deep in my pockets as any man to help any guy that needs help. I can't stand to see anybody hungry or cold or helpless.”

“The funny part of the whole thing is that a man in this line of business has so much company. I mean his customers. If people did not want beer and wouldn't drink it, a fellow would be crazy for going around trying to sell it!”

“Nobody wanted Prohibition. This town voted six to one against it. Somebody had to throw some liquor on that thirst. Why not me?”

“This is virgin territory out here for whorehouses.”

“Don't get the idea that I'm one of these goddamn radicals. Don't get the idea that I'm knocking the American system.”

“This American system of ours … call it Americanism, call it capitalism, call it what you like, gives to each and every one of us a great opportunity if we only seize it with both hands and make the most of it.”

“Things people know about amuse them. They like to laugh over them and make jokes. When a speakeasy is raided, there are a few hysterical people, but the general mass are light hearted. On the other hand, do you know any of your friends who'd go into fits of merriment if they feared being taken for a ride?”

“What do you want to do, get yourself killed before you are thirty? You'd better get some sense while a few of us are left alive.”

“I want peace, and I will live and let live. I'm like any other man. I've been in this racket long enough to realize that a man in my game must take the breaks, the fortunes of war. I haven't had any peace of mind in years. Every minute I'm in danger of death.”

“I wanted to stop all that because I couldn't stand hearing my little kid ask why I didn't stay home. I had been living at the Hawthorne Inn for fourteen months… If it wasn't for him, I'd have said, To hell with you fellows. We'll shoot it out.”

“I told them we are making a shooting gallery out of a great business and nobody is profiting by it.”

“Nobody was ever killed except outlaws, and the community is better off without them.”

“I'm the boss. I'm going to continue to run things. They've been putting the roscoe on me for a good many years and I'm still healthy and happy. Don't let anybody kid you into thinking I can be run out of town. I haven't run yet and I'm not going to.”

“It's hard, dangerous work, aside from any hate at all, and when a fellow works hard at any line of business he wants to go home and forget about it. He don't want to be afraid to sit near a window or an open door.”

“There's always some wiseacre who stands in the wings and criticizes. You've got two choices. You either buy these wiseacres off by giving them jobs… or you scare them off. If they don't scare, you take them in the alley. When they get out of the hospital, if they still want to squawk, you get rid of them.”

“Union members look at dues the same way they look at taxes: just something you got to pay the thieves who run things.”

“Once you're in the racket, you're always in it. The parasites will trail you, begging for money and favors, and you can never get away from them no matter where you go.”