New York

by Edward Rutherfurd

“If the ship’s stealing from us,” says the Boss, “it’s a pirate. But if it’s stealing from the enemy, it’s a privateer.”

And from this and all that went before, I learned that, if you give people what they want, it can make you free.

“The loss of liberty, to a generous mind, is worse than death,”

she’d turn him into a country gentleman, or a man of fashion.

Sounds good to me ! lol

“I cannot fault your young friend’s logic,” he said cheerfully. “But the political art uses negotiation and compromise rather than logic.

“All empires become arrogant. It is their nature.”

James could not help reflecting grimly: if he lived through this adventure, and his grandchildren ever asked him what it was like to cross the Delaware with Washington, he’d have in all honesty to answer: “We couldn’t see a thing.”

“To us, sir, humanity trumps legality,” James answered. “In England, it’s the other way round.”

ground to another, supervising and encouraging them all with a stream of curses in German or French, which his orderlies would precisely translate—so that by the end of their training, every soldier in the Patriot army possessed a broad vocabulary of profanities in three languages.

I’ll tell you this. New York is the true capital of America. Every New Yorker knows it, and by God, we always shall.”

And with those profits, he’d made the simplest investment in the world: he’d bought Manhattan land.

“It’s the damnedest thing,” he reported back. “Fellow by the name of Otis. He’s designed an elevator like the one we just rode in, but he’s added a system of safety catches so that if the cable breaks, it won’t fall. I reckon you could install something like that in a big store, or even a house.” He nodded. “He’s setting up in business. Might make an interesting investment, I’d say.”

“The way I see it,” he’d told his sister, “since most of the men in Five Points will rob you if they get the chance, and since I know there isn’t a single alderman in the city that can’t be bought, why would the merchants on South Street or the bankers on Wall Street be any different? They’re all criminals,

There’s still no difference - especially on Wall Street.

“The government’s as crooked as anyone else, but they can print money.”

Explains much.

Lily de Chantal lived in a different world and had chosen a different path. Bohemian yet respectable, intoxicating yet safe: it seemed like the perfect adventure.

Without greed, I always say, there’d be no civilization. But the Wall Street man doesn’t have the patience to till the soil or manufacture things. He’s clever, but he’s not deep.

But then, what man of any age was sensible?

It was almost funny really, when you thought about it. All his life, he’d been rich. But he’d been living in a prison cell—in the great jail, called Expectation. And he couldn’t get out of it.

“You could argue,” he said, “that any strong belief can blind people to other realities.

the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution banning the sale of “intoxicating liquors” went into effect in 1920, the face of America might have changed. But it sure as hell hadn’t stopped people drinking.

The great feature of the Algonquin was the big table at which, every day, the literary luminaries of the city met together.

“And where did you meet Charles?” “In a speakeasy. He was half cut.” “I was plastered,” said Charlie with a grin.

New York had always been a place for people who wanted more. Whether a poor immigrant or a rich merchant, people came to New York to get more. In bad times they came there to survive, in good times to prosper, and in boom times to get rich. Very rich. Fast.

Greed was everywhere. Greed was exciting. Successful greedy men were heroes. Greed was good.

Suppose this is where Gordon gecko got his line ?

market crash of 1720, which had announced that a company was to be formed “for a purpose yet to be discovered.”

Just like the internet in 1997

“People are investing in expectations.”

That’s how it works!

“Thank you so much. That’s really nice to hear. Your wife and children count for nothing, I suppose.”

New York is full of people like me, and you have missed us. You see only dollars.”