“I’m a businessman. I’ve made my money supplying a popular demand.”
“You can get much further with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.”
“I’m just a businessman, giving the people what they want.”
“Be careful who you call your friends. I’d rather have four quarters than one hundred pennies.”
“You accomplish more with a smile, a handshake, and a gun than you do with just a smile and a handshake.”
“I got nothing against the honest cop on the beat. You just have them transferred someplace where they can do no harm.”
“You can go a long way in life if you don’t care who gets the credit.”
“Capitalism is the legitimate racket of the ruling class.”
“A smile can get you far, but a smile with a gun can get you further.”
“All I ever did was sell beer and whiskey to our best people.”
“Don’t mistake kindness for weakness.”
“You can get more with a kind word and a gun than with just a kind word.”
“The worst thing you can do to a man is to make him believe he’s a coward.”
“A crook is a crook, and there’s something healthy about his frankness in the matter.”
“Some call it bootlegging. Some call it racketeering. I call it a business.”
“They can’t collect legal taxes from illegal money.”
“Prohibition has made nothing but trouble.”
“I am like any other man. All I do is supply a demand.”
“I’ve spent the best years of my life giving people the lighter pleasures, helping them have a good time, and all I get is abuse.”
“A friend is one who has the same enemies as you have.”
“I’ve been accused of every death except the World War.”
“When I sell liquor, it’s called bootlegging. When my patrons serve it on Lake Shore Drive, it’s called hospitality.”
“This American system of ours, call it Americanism, call it capitalism, call it what you like, gives each and every one of us a great opportunity.”
“People respect fear. They don’t respect love.”
“Hell must be a pretty swell spot, because the guys that invented religion have sure been trying hard to keep everybody else out.”
“Vote early and vote often.”
“I don’t even know what street Canada is on.”
“I have built my organization upon fear.”
“My rackets are run on strictly American lines, and they’re going to stay that way.”
“Prohibition is a joke. It makes a criminal out of every man who wants a drink.”
“Nobody can stand the truth if it is told to them.”
“I am not a gangster. I am a businessman.”
“I don’t trust anybody, not even myself.”
“The country wanted booze and I organized it. Why should I be called a public enemy?”
“Public service is my motto.”
“I’m the boss. I’m going to keep on running things. They’ve been putting the Roscoe on me for a good many years and I’m still healthy and happy.”
“It seems like I’m responsible for every crime that takes place in this country.”
“I’ll give you an offer you can’t refuse.”
“You gotta have friends in high places.”
“I’ve always been honest in business.”
“Every time a boy falls off a tricycle, every time a black cat has gray kittens, every time someone stubs their toe, I get blamed for it.”
“I would rather have a loyal dog than a hundred ungrateful friends.”
“I’m just a regular guy who loves life and enjoys every minute of it.”
“When I sell liquor, it’s bootlegging; when politicians sell it, it’s hospitality.”
“What do you want to do, get yourself killed before you’re 30? You’d better get some sense while there’s still time.”
“The funny thing about me is that I always understood that in America, the business of business is business.”
“Fear is the foundation of most governments.”
“They talk about me not being legitimate. Nobody’s legitimate in this business.”
“If people didn’t want beer and didn’t want booze, a fellow wouldn’t have to worry about dodging bullets all the time.”
“A well-paid cop is a happy cop.”