Al Capone quotes

View Quote [to reporters] I'm gonna tell you something. Somebody messes with me? I'm gonna mess with him. Somebody steals from me? I'm gonna say you stole, not talk to him for spittin' on the sidewalk. Y'understand? Now, I have done nothing to hurt these people, but they're angered at me, so what do they do? Doctor up some "income tax", for which they got no case. To annoy me. To speak to me like men? No. To harass a peaceful man. I pray to God if I ever had a grievance I would have just a little more self respect. I'll tell you one more thing. You got an all-out prizefight? You wait until the fight is over, one guy's left standing, and that's how you know who won.

View Quote I grew up in a tough neighborhood. We used to say, "You can get further with a kind word and a gun than you can with just a kind word." And in that neighborhood, it might've been true. And sometimes your reputation follows you. Yes! There is violence in Chicago. But not by me, and not by anybody who works for me, and I'll tell you why: because it's bad for business.

View Quote People are gonna drink - you know that, I know that, we all know that, and all I do is act on that. And all this talk of bootlegging - what is bootlegging? On a boat, it's bootlegging. On Lake Shore Drive, it's hospitality. I'm a businessman!

View Quote Life goes on. A man becomes preeminent, he's expected to have enthusiasms. Enthusiasms... Enthusiasms... What are mine? What draws my admiration? What is that which gives me joy? [grabs a baseball bat] Baseball! A man stands alone at the plate. This is the time for what? For individual achievement. There he stands alone. But in the field, what? Part of a team. Teamwork.... Looks, throws, catches, hustles - part of one big team. Bats himself the live-long day, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and so on. If his team don't field... what is he? You follow me? No one! Sunny day, the stands are full of fans. What does he have to say? "I'm goin' out there for myself. But... I get nowhere unless the team wins." [Beats his henchman to death with his bat]

View Quote I want you to get this **** where he breathes! I want you to find this Nancy-boy Eliot Ness, I want him dead! I want his family dead! I want his house burned to the ground! I wanna go there in the middle of the night and I wanna piss on his ashes!

View Quote [to Ness] You got nothing. You're nothing but a lot of talk and a badge! You hear me? Cause you got nothing! You got nothing in court, you don't got the bookkeeper, you got NOTHING! NOTHING! And if you were a man, you would've done it now! You don't got a thing, you punk!