Top 65 Most Famous Al Capone Quotes Of All Time

Al Capone, born on January 17, 1899, in Brooklyn, New York, and died on January 25, 1947, in Palm Island Prison. The most powerful American gangster of his time. He was known as the “Emperor of Chicago” for his control over the city’s underworld during the Prohibition years.

Al Capone became a notorious Chicago gangster in the 1920s after consolidating power in the city’s underworld. He is best known for running illegal breweries and distilleries, but his racketeering, prostitution, gambling, and other business interests made him incredibly wealthy.

Capone was eventually caught up with criminal charges and accused of income tax evasion and bootlegging. Bootlegging was when people sold alcohol illegally during prohibition, so it was very profitable for Capone to do this because he could charge higher prices without the government restricting him.

His life and quotes have been made into movies, books, documentaries, TV series, and video games.

Here are 65 Most Famous Al Capone Quotes

“You can do more with a kind word and a gun than with just a kind word.”

“A smile can get you far, but a smile with a gun can get you further.”

“I would rather be rich affluent and greedy and go to hell when I die, than live in poverty on this earth.”

“It seems like I’m responsible for every crime that takes place in this country.”

“We must keep the worker away from red literature and red ruses; we must see that his mind remains healthy.”

“I have always been opposed to violence, to shootings. I have fought, yes, but fought for peace.”

“What do you want to do, get yourself killed before you are thirty? You’d better get some sense while a few of us are left alive.”

“They can’t collect legal taxes from illegal money.”

“I am sick and tired of publicity. I want no more of it. It puts me in a bad light. I just want to be forgotten.”

“You can get much further with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.”

“Those who work with me are afraid of nothing. Those who work for me are kept faithful, not so much because of their pay as because they know what might be done with them if they broke faith.”

“I’m a kind person, I’m kind to everyone, but if you are unkind to me, then kindness is not what you’ll remember me for”

“I am just a businessman, giving the people what they want,

“Be careful who you call your friends. I’d rather have four quarters than one hundred pennies.”

“Once you’re in the racket, you’re always in it. The parasites will trail you, begging for money and favors, and you can never get away from them no matter where you go.”

“Now I know why tigers eat their young.”

“You accomplish more with a smile, a handshake, and a gun than you do with just a smile and a handshake.”

“All I ever did was supply a demand that was pretty popular.”

“In this life all that I have is my word and my balls and I do not break them for nobody.”

“The worst type of these punks is the big politician. You can only get a little of his time because he spends so much time covering up that no one will know that he is a thief.”

“A hard-working crook will and can get those birds by the dozen, but right down in his heart he won’t depend on them-hates the sight of them.”

“Prohibition has made nothing but trouble.”

“You’d be surprised if you knew some of the fellows I’ve got to take care of.”

“Vote early and vote often.”

“I’ve lost a million and a half on the horses and dice in the last two years. And the funny part is, I still like ’em, and if someone handed me another million I’d put it right in the nose of some horse that looked good to me.”

“Once in the racket you’re always in it.”

“Capitalism is the legitimate racket of the ruling class.”

“Why not treat our business like any other man treats his, as something to work at in the daytime and forget when he goes home at night? There’s plenty of business for everybody. Why kill each other over it?”

“The country wanted booze and I organized it. Why should I be called a public enemy?”

“You can go a long way with a smile. You can go a lot farther with a smile and a gun.”

“I believe I can take credit for the peace that now exists in the racket game in Chicago. I believe that the people can thank me for the fact that gang killings here are probably a thing of the past.”

“Hell must be a pretty swell spot, because the guys that invented religion have sure been trying hard to keep everybody else out.”

“I am like any other man. All I do is supply a demand.”

“I have built my organization upon fear.”

“Some call it bootlegging. Some call it racketeering. I call it a business.”

“The parasites will trail you, begging for money and favors, and you can never get away from them no matter where you go.”

“The funny part of the whole thing is that a man in this line of business has so much company. I mean his customers.”

“Prohibition has made nothing but trouble”

“My rackets are run on strictly American lines and they’re going to stay that way.”

“I’m a kind person, I’m kind to everyone, but if you are unkind to me, then kindness is not what you’ll remember me for.”

“All I ever did was sell beer and whiskey to our best people.”

“I got nothing against the honest cop on the beat. You just have them transferred someplace where they can’t do you any harm.”

“If people did not want beer and wouldn’t drink it, a fellow would be crazy for going around trying to sell it!”

“Why not treat our business like any other man treats his, as something to work at in the daytime and forget when he goes home at night?”

“We been on the road for 18 hours… I need a bath, some chow… and then you and me sit down, and we talk about who dies,eh?”

“I have spent the best years of my life giving people the lighter pleasures, helping them have a good time, and all I get is abuse, the existence of a hunted man.”

“Public service is my motto.”

“I don’t even know what street Canada is on.”

“Don’t you get the idea I’m one of those goddam radicals. Don’t get the idea I’m knocking the American system.”

“There’s plenty of business for everybody. Why kill each other over it?”

“They talk about me not being legitimate. Nobody’s on the legit, you know that and so do they. Nobody’s really-on the legit when it comes down to cases.”

“People who respect nothing dread fear. It is upon fear, therefore, that I have built up my organization.”

“Capitalism gives all of us a great opportunity if we seize it with both hands and hang on to it.”

“It’s pretty tough when a citizen with an unblemished record must be hounded from his home by the very policemen whose salaries are paid, at least in part, from the victim’s pocket. You might say that every policeman in Chicago gets some of his bread and butter from the taxes I pay.”

“Don’t let anybody kid you into thinking I can be run out of town. I haven’t run yet and I’m not going to.”

“I have always been opposed to violence, to shootings. I have fought, yes, but fought for peace. And I believe I can take credit for the peace that now exists in the racket game in Chicago. I believe that the people can thank me for the fact that gang killings here are probably a thing of the past.”

“I’ve lost a million and a half on the horses and dice in the last two years. And the funny part is, I still like ’em, and if someone handed me another million I’d put it right in the nose of some horse that looked good to me.”

“I never stuck up a man in my life. Neither did any of my agents ever rob anybody or burglarize any homes while they worked for me. They might have pulled plenty of jobs before they came with me or after they left me, but not while they were in my outfit.”

“Every time a boy falls off a tricycle, every time a black cat has gray kittens, every time someone stubs a toe, every time there’s a murder or a fire or the marines land in Nicaragua, the police and the newspapers holler ‘get Capone’.”

“People who respect nothing dread fear. It is upon fear, therefore, that I have built up my organization. But understand me correctly, please. Those who work with me are afraid of nothing. Those who work for me are kept faithful, not so much because of their pay as because they know what might be done with them if they broke faith.”

“I’m the boss. I’m going to continue to run things. They’ve been putting the roscoe on me for a good many years and I’m still healthy and happy. Don’t let anybody kid you into thinking I can be run out of town. I haven’t run yet and I’m not going to.”

“I did it for the love of cash your honer, traffickin’ cross the verrazano, coke dealin marijuana”

“The funny part of the whole thing is that a man in this line of business has so much company. I mean his customers. If people did not want beer and wouldn’t drink it, a fellow would be crazy for going around trying to sell it!”

“All I ever did was sell beer and whiskey to our best people. All I ever did was supply a demand that was pretty popular. Why, the very guys that make my trade good are the ones that yell the loudest about me. Some of the leading judges use the stuff.”

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