Quotes from Wiseguy

Nicholas Pileggi ·  320 pages

Rating: (10.9K votes)


“By birth, certainly, they were not prepared in any way to achieve their desires. They were not the smartest kids in the neighborhood. They were not born the richest. They weren’t even the toughest. In fact, they lacked almost all the necessary talents that might have helped them satisfy the appetites of their dreams, except one—their talent for violence.”
― Nicholas Pileggi, quote from Wiseguy


“On one occasion Jimmy is said to have given the elderly, impoverished mother of a young hood five thousand dollars. The woman’s son was said to have owed his mother the money but had refused to pay her. Jimmy was apparently so incensed at this lack of regard for motherhood that he gave the woman the five thousand in the morning, claiming it was from her son, and then allegedly killed the woman’s son before dusk.”
― Nicholas Pileggi, quote from Wiseguy


“Henry was never able to help McDonald crack Lufthansa—the”
― Nicholas Pileggi, quote from Wiseguy


“Of course, no matter how Henry tried to rationalize what he had done, his survival depended upon his capacity for betrayal. He willingly turned on the world he knew and the men with whom he had been raised with the same nonchalance he had used in setting up a bookie joint or slipping a tail. For Henry Hill giving up the life was hard, but giving up his friends was easy.”
― Nicholas Pileggi, quote from Wiseguy


“The federal prosecutors were asking him about his role in the $6 million Lufthansa German Airlines robbery, the largest successful cash robbery in American history.”
― Nicholas Pileggi, quote from Wiseguy



“I had a drugstore wholesaler who had discount stores all over Long Island.”
― Nicholas Pileggi, quote from Wiseguy


About the author

Nicholas Pileggi
Born place: in New York, New York, The United States
Born date February 22, 1933
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“He's been so changeable with her I'm surprised he's not been accepted to Hogwarts for his transfiguration skills.”
― Holly Bourne, quote from Am I Normal Yet?


Ava: – Gentle. I was never taught to be gentle. When I sang, I did so loudly. When I played sports, I had to win, otherwise what was the point? My mother would never tell me to quiet myself for a boy. She would tell me to never change for anyone, because the people you change for are the people who control you.”
― Stephanie Oakes, quote from The Arsonist


“Just because you’re, like, super powerful doesn’t mean people shouldn’t defend you.” But he was looking at her like she was a cute harmless little bunny that was obviously on drugs. She sighed. “You’re still not fearing my mighty wrath.” “I’m trying.” “One day I will unleash it and you will flee in terror. Why are you laughing? It’s only the truth. A sphinx in full-on berserker-mode can wreak major destruction and instill fear into the hearts of all who… stop laughing!”
― Suzanne Wright, quote from Blaze


“man was so engineered by God that the presence of the Creator within the creature is indispensable to his humanity.”
― Bob George, quote from Classic Christianity: Life's Too Short to Miss the Real Thing


“Work gives you a goal. It lets you build something that lives on after you’re gone. Work has a purpose beyond making money.”
― Grady Hendrix, quote from Horrorstör


Interesting books

Shattered Glass
(7.9K)
Shattered Glass
by Dani Alexander
Metamorphosis
(12.4K)
Metamorphosis
by Erin Noelle
Women of the Silk
(13.6K)
Women of the Silk
by Gail Tsukiyama
Killer Spirit
(4.5K)
Killer Spirit
by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Hood
(12.1K)
Hood
by Stephen R. Lawhead
The Atonement Child
(32.2K)
The Atonement Child
by Francine Rivers

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.