Little Man Quotes

“Always in life carry this motto with you: When you lose your money, you lose nothing. When you lose your health, you lose something. When you lose your character, you lose everything.”
― Robert Lacey, Meyer Lansky: The Thinking Man’s Gangster

“Costello must have been the guiding genius behind the 1929 Atlantic City gathering when Al Capone came to confer with the bootleggers of the East Coast.”
― Robert Lacey, Meyer Lansky: The Thinking Man’s Gangster

“Orthodox Judaism does not place undue emphasis on hellfire and damnation, nor are children specially pressured to search their souls for sin. But the priorities of a cheder education were anything but material. Read, read, read. Study, study, study. These were the objectives of school — and of life itself.”
― Robert Lacey, Meyer Lansky: The Thinking Man’s Gangster

“So Meyer Lansky was Hyman Roth? Was Marlon Brando Frank Costello? The confusion was compounded when quite serious newspapers started incorporating Godfather comparisons into their reporting on organized crime.”
― Robert Lacey, Meyer Lansky: The Thinking Man’s Gangster

“The challenge of carving an honest and accurate accounting out of the hidden casino syndicates of Las Vegas in the early 1960s was a daunting and almost impossible task, and to the mind of Jimmy Alo, who had several casino syndicates to take care of, there was one obvious man for the job.”
― Robert Lacey, Meyer Lansky: The Thinking Man’s Gangster

“What, they had asked Meyer, did he do for a living? “Business,” he replied. “What kind of business?” came the question. “My business,” came his answer, and Lansky absolutely declined to elaborate further.”
― Robert Lacey, Meyer Lansky: The Thinking Man’s Gangster

“Compared by one commentator to “the death rattle of a seagull,” Costello’s voice was later said to have provided the model for Marlon Brando’s memorable performance in The Godfather.”
― Robert Lacey, Meyer Lansky: The Thinking Man’s Gangster