Straight to Hell Quotes

“If someone asks you a question and you don't know the answer, belittle them. It's better to be an asshole than look stupid.”
― John LeFevre, Straight to Hell: True Tales of Deviance, Debauchery, and Billion-Dollar Deals

“I’ll deliberately order a jasmine tea and a fruit plate just to make a point to the client that I’m a serious and disciplined professional. I usually accompany that with a quick line about how shitty the hotel gym is. “The treadmill shakes too much at high speeds” is a fan favorite. The client is almost always impressed.”
― John LeFevre, Straight to Hell: True Tales of Deviance, Debauchery, and Billion-Dollar Deals

“Rules are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men.”
― John LeFevre, Straight to Hell: True Tales of Deviance, Debauchery, and Billion-Dollar Deals

“I don’t need to be told how handsome I am every twenty feet; I just want to drink. There”
― John LeFevre, Straight to Hell: True Tales of Deviance, Debauchery, and Billion-Dollar Deals

“For a generation of kids who grew up without a home phone, basic telephone etiquette is increasingly an issue.”
― John LeFevre, Straight to Hell: True Tales of Deviance, Debauchery, and Billion-Dollar Deals

“(Never stay on the same floor as a client; a”
― John LeFevre, Straight to Hell: True Tales of Deviance, Debauchery, and Billion-Dollar Deals

“if you’re dumb enough to get caught cheating, you probably don’t belong on Wall Street.”
― John LeFevre, Straight to Hell: True Tales of Deviance, Debauchery, and Billion-Dollar Deals

“gardening leave—a legally required paid vacation to prevent conflicts of interest or sensitive information from passing from one bank to another.”
― John LeFevre, Straight to Hell: True Tales of Deviance, Debauchery, and Billion-Dollar Deals

“the “management flight.” The management flight is when you intentionally pick flight times in the middle of the day, so that you can have a leisurely morning, then lounge, drink, eat, and sleep your way through the meat of the day, finally arriving at your destination just in time for late-afternoon team drinks.”
― John LeFevre, Straight to Hell: True Tales of Deviance, Debauchery, and Billion-Dollar Deals

“to wall cross [where investors agree to receive nonpublic information, keep it confidential, and not trade on it] every”
― John LeFevre, Straight to Hell: True Tales of Deviance, Debauchery, and Billion-Dollar Deals

“Goldman Sachs is famous for rigidly refusing to hire someone and promote them at the same time. For”
― John LeFevre, Straight to Hell: True Tales of Deviance, Debauchery, and Billion-Dollar Deals

“It’s hard to accuse someone of not working hard when he’s got that earpiece as a constant reminder of how busy he might be. He”
― John LeFevre, Straight to Hell: True Tales of Deviance, Debauchery, and Billion-Dollar Deals

“Basis points,” or “bp,” represent one hundredth of a percent, in reference to the yield, or cost of borrowing. “Area” is a term that simply means “plus or minus”; sometimes it is quantified and sometimes it is left intentionally undefined. This”
― John LeFevre, Straight to Hell: True Tales of Deviance, Debauchery, and Billion-Dollar Deals

“The last person into their respective office the next day, as measured by their Bloomberg login status, has to pay for the liquid lunch that follows, where we spend three hours nursing our hangovers and reliving the events of the previous evening.”
― John LeFevre, Straight to Hell: True Tales of Deviance, Debauchery, and Billion-Dollar Deals

“a primitive mirror-on-a-stick bomb detector, the mascot of the third world.”
― John LeFevre, Straight to Hell: True Tales of Deviance, Debauchery, and Billion-Dollar Deals

“Despite our many foibles, the Filipina helper community loves working for the gweilos. And by foibles, I mean behavior that is in complete disregard for all societal norms and basic human decency. My”
― John LeFevre, Straight to Hell: True Tales of Deviance, Debauchery, and Billion-Dollar Deals

“I’m having yet another dinner, but this time with more of the working-level capital markets origination bankers. These guys are considerably more risk averse; they don’t have the stomach for sales and trading and lack the smarts for M&A.”
― John LeFevre, Straight to Hell: True Tales of Deviance, Debauchery, and Billion-Dollar Deals

“Perhaps it is the realization that I am going to take this toilet’s virginity with a fury and savagery that is an abomination to its delicate craftsmanship and quality.”
― John LeFevre, Straight to Hell: True Tales of Deviance, Debauchery, and Billion-Dollar Deals

“Britain is a country that, since World War II, has been on a managed decline. The men live vicariously through their favorite soccer team, celebrating its success with “a few pints” and commiserating over its failings with “a few pints.” And the women—walking muffin tops. Yet they stride around with a terribly misplaced sense of entitlement. Even their TV shows are emblematic of their mediocre mentality. EastEnders and Coronation Street are all about fat, dumb, ugly, poor people. And there begins the vicious cycle of complacent underachievers. Maybe I’m biased because, despite being born in England, I grew up in the US. At least our equivalent TV shows are full of good-looking rich people doing big business deals and dating glamorous women. I wouldn’t mind my kids growing up wanting to be J. R. Ewing, but who the fuck wants to be a pub landlord in Essex?”
― John LeFevre, Straight to Hell: True Tales of Deviance, Debauchery, and Billion-Dollar Deals

“If we don’t make aggressive markets and show a willingness to buy back bonds, investors aren’t going to want to participate in our deals. In”
― John LeFevre, Straight to Hell: True Tales of Deviance, Debauchery, and Billion-Dollar Deals

“RAVs (Russians, Arabs, and Villains) who view London as the place to go if you want to buy respectability.”
― John LeFevre, Straight to Hell: True Tales of Deviance, Debauchery, and Billion-Dollar Deals