Sutton Quotes

“A book is the only real escape from this fallen world. Aside from death.”
― J.R. Moehringer, Sutton

“Time is a thief, but he's not subtle. He's a thug. And youth is a little old lady walking through the park with a pocketbook full of cash. You want to avoid being like youth? You want to keep time from robbing you? Hold on for dear life, boys. When time tries to snatch something from you, just grab tighter. Don't let go. That's what memory is. Not letting go.”
― J.R. Moehringer, Sutton

“Any book is better than no book. Slowly, surely, one will lead you to another, which will lead you to the best.”
― J.R. Moehringer, Sutton

“I love to read sir. I always have. But when I walk into a library or a bookshop, I get overwhelmed. I don't know where to start.
Start anywhere.
How do I know what's worth my time and what's a waste?
None of it is waste. Any book is better than no book. Slowly, surely, one will lead you to another, which will lead you to the best.”
― J.R. Moehringer, Sutton

“Truth has its place. In a courtroom, certainly. A boardroom? I don't know. I think truth is in the listener. Truth is something the listener bestows on a story-- or not”
― J.R. Moehringer, Sutton

“Collins was in the space capsule all alone. While his partners were down there collecting rocks, Collins was manning the wheel. Twenty-six times he circled the moon—solo. Imagine? He was completely out of radio contact. Couldn’t talk to his partners. Couldn’t talk to NASA. He was cut off from every living soul in the universe. If he panicked, if he fucked up, if he pushed the wrong button, he’d strand Armstrong and Aldrin. Or if they did something wrong, if their lunar car broke down, if they couldn’t restart the thing, if they couldn’t blast off and reconnect with Collins forty-five miles above the moon, he’d have to head back to earth all by himself. Leave his partners to die. Slowly running out of air. While watching earth in the distance. It was such a real possibility, Collins returning to earth by himself, that Nixon wrote up a speech to the nation. Collins—now that’s one stone-cold wheelman. That’s the guy you want sitting at the wheel of a gassed-up Ford while you’re inside a bank.”
― J.R. Moehringer, Sutton

“Also, Willie, I dig telling the truth. Words can be twisted but a photo never lies.
Sutton laughs.
What’s funny? Photographer says.
Nothing. Except—that’s pure horseshit kid. I can’t think of anything that lies more than a photo. In fact every photo is a dirty stinking lie because it’s a frozen moment—and time can’t be frozen. Some of the biggest lies I’ve ever run across have been photos. Some of them were of me.”
― J.R. Moehringer, Sutton

“Did you know Socrates said we love whatever we lack? Or think we lack? Socrates? If you feel stupid, you'll fall for someone brainy. If you feel ugly, you'll flip your lid for someone who's easy on the eyes.”
― J.R. Moehringer, Sutton

“Money. Love. There's not a problem that isn't caused by one or the other. And there's not a problem that can't be solved by one or the other.”
― J.R. Moehringer, Sutton

“Lies Bücher. So einfach ist das. Ein Buch ist die einzige wirkliche Flucht aus dieser gefallenen Welt.
Außer dem Tod.”
― J.R. Moehringer, Sutton

“It’s just how human beings are built. Two thousand years later, why do we know the name of Judas and not the soldier who nailed Christ to the cross? In”
― J.R. Moehringer, Sutton

“Photographer shoots Sutton in close-up, the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway behind his head. The expressway was built while Sutton was in prison. God what a monstrosity, Sutton says. I didn't think they could make Brooklyn uglier. I underestimated them.”
― J.R. Moehringer, Sutton

“...Leaving his partners to die. Watching them run out of air...It was such a real possibility, Collins returning to earth by himself...now that's a stone-cold wheelman. That's the guy you want sitting at the wheel of a gassed-up Ford while you're inside a bank.”
― J.R. Moehringer, Sutton

“Willie Sutton was one of the most notorious, infamous and frequently quoted figures of the twentieth century—yet little is known about him. From the 1920s to the 1950s he robbed dozens of banks, made off with perhaps two million dollars and escaped three maximum security prisons—but how? And why? Who was Willie Sutton and what drove him?”
― J.R. Moehringer, Sutton

“It’s that simple. A book is the only real escape from this fallen world. Aside from death.”
― J.R. Moehringer, Sutton

“Banks gamed the system, fucked society, caused the crash of 1929, drove the world into the abyss and paved the way for the rise of fascism—Stalin, Hitler—and they got despicably, disgustingly rich in the process. Banks. Banks did all that.”
― J.R. Moehringer, Sutton

“Work is destiny. A man talks about the woman he loves, he might sound excited, but get him talking about his job, then check his eyes—that’s the real him. A man is his job, kid, and I had no job, so I was a bum. A loser. America’s a great place to be a winner, but it’s hell’s basement for losers. Three”
― J.R. Moehringer, Sutton

“Boy did he hate banks. He told me once that the Founding Fathers worried more about banks than they worried about the British. They knew that banks had been causing chaos, bringing empires to their knees, for centuries, all in the name of free enterprise. Photographer”
― J.R. Moehringer, Sutton

“A book is the only real escape from this fallen world.”
― J.R. Moehringer, Sutton

“Life is complicated, love isn't. If you need to think about it for one half second, you're not in love.”
― J.R. Moehringer, Sutton

“Bess and I had a talk. January 1919. Everything flowed from that talk, that moment. Everything. Look back on your life and see if you can pinpoint the moment when everything changed. If you can't? That means you haven't had your momemt yet, and you better hold on to your ass, it's coming.”
― J.R. Moehringer, Sutton

“Yeah, says the Newsday reporter, he's a real pacifist. He's the Gandhi of Gangsters.”
― J.R. Moehringer, Sutton

“I love to read sir. I always have. But when I walk into a library or bookshop, I get overwhelmed. I don’t know where to start. Start anywhere. How do I know what’s worth my time and what’s a waste? None of it is a waste. Any book is better than no book. Slowly, surely, one will lead you to another, which will lead you to the best. Do you want to spend your life planting roses with me? No sir. Then—books. It’s that simple. A book is the only real escape from this fallen world. Aside from death.”
― J.R. Moehringer, Sutton

“America didn't want any of us, and you haven't felt unwanted until America doesn't want you.”
― J.R. Moehringer, Sutton