50 Quotes The Godfather Every Fan Must Know

The Most Iconic Quotes

1. I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse.
2. A man who doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man.
3. Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.
4. It's not personal, Sonny. It's strictly business.
5. Revenge is a dish best served cold.
6. Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgment.
7. Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.
8. Great men are not born great, they grow great.
9. The lawyer with the briefcase can steal more than the man with the gun.
10. Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.

Wisdom from Vito Corleone

11. Friendship is everything. It’s more than talent.
12. A friend should always underestimate your virtues and an enemy overestimate your faults.
13. Women and children can be careless, but not men.
14. You spend time with your family? Good. Because a man who doesn’t...
15. You cannot say "no" to the people you love, not often.

Power, Loyalty & Family

16. The strength of a family, like the strength of an army, lies in its loyalty.
17. Don’t ever take sides with anyone against the family again. Ever.
18. This is the business we’ve chosen.
19. I have always believed helping friends.
20. You talk about vengeance. Is vengeance going to bring your son back to you?

Lessons in Business

21. It’s strictly business.
22. Finance is a gun. Politics is knowing when to pull the trigger.
23. In Sicily, women are more dangerous than shotguns.
24. There are many things my father taught me here in this room. He taught me: keep your friends close...
25. Don’t ever let anyone know what you’re thinking.

Betrayal & Justice

26. You betrayed me.
27. Michael, we're bigger than U.S. Steel.
28. I know it was you, Fredo. You broke my heart.
29. You should have taken care of me, just like a brother.
30. I don’t trust society to protect us. I have no intention of placing my fate in the hands of men where only competence is their only qualification.

Love, Life & Death

31. You can act like a man!
32. I respect those who tell me the truth, no matter how hard it is.
33. Some people would pay a lot of money for that information, but then your daughter would lose a father instead of gaining a husband.
34. A man’s true character comes out when he’s drunk.
35. You live inside a world of your own making.

Timeless Philosophy

36. Time erodes gratitude more quickly than it does beauty!
37. All my life I kept trying to go up in society, where everything is legal, but the higher I go, the more crooked it becomes.
38. Every man has his destiny.
39. We don’t discuss business at the table.
40. The richest man is the one with the most powerful friends.

Memorable Movie Moments

41. Senator, we're both part of the same hypocrisy.
42. There was a time I could see it coming—now I can’t.
43. He was stupid. I was lucky. I will not apologize.
44. Power wears out those who don’t have it.
45. The Don’s word is final.

Legacy & Final Words

46. Fredo, you’re my older brother, and I love you. But don’t ever take sides against the family again.
47. You’re nothing to me now.
48. This war stops now.
49. Michael, you’ve become the very thing you swore to destroy.
50. The Corleone name means something.