Top 50 Quotes From Michael Corleone

Michael: Your enemies always get strong on what you leave behind.

Michael: Where does it say that you can't kill a cop?
Tom: Come on, Mikey...
Michael: Tom, wait a minute. I'm talking about a cop that's mixed up in drugs. I'm talking about a - a - a dishonest cop - a crooked cop who got mixed up in the rackets and got what was coming to him. That's a terrific story. And we have newspaper people on the payroll, don't we, Tom?
[Tom nods]
Michael: And they might like a story like that.
Tom: They might, they just might.
Michael: [to Sonny] It's not personal, Sonny. It's strictly business.

Michael: Kay, I had a very different destiny planned for us.

Don: Oh, I want you to arrange to have a telephone man check all the calls going in and out of here because it could be anyone...
Michael: I did that already, Pop. I took care of that.
Don: Oh, that's right. I forgot.
Michael: What's the matter? What's bothering you? I'll handle it. I told you I can handle it, I'll handle it.
[the Don rises as if to leave, but changes his mind midway and seats himself closer to Michael]
Don: I knew Santino was going to have to go through all this and Fredo... well, Fredo was... But I, I never wanted this for you. I work my whole life, I don't apologize, to take care of my family. And I refused to be a fool dancing on the strings held by all of those big shots. That's my life, I don't apologize for that. But I always thought that when it was your time, that you would be the one to hold the strings. Senator Corleone, Governor Corleone, something.
Michael: Another pezzonovante.
Don: Well, there wasn't enough time, Michael. There just wasn't enough time.
Michael: We'll get there, Pop. We'll get there.
[the Don kisses his son on the forehead]

Michael: He'd better be careful. It's dangerous to be a honest man.

Michael: What's wrong with being a lawyer?
Kay: Nothing, except he doesn't want it. He loves music he wants his life to be in music.
Michael: Well, music is great. I love music but he should finish what he started. Anthony.
Anthony: I'm going my own way.
Michael: Your own way.
Anthony: Uh-huh.
Michael: Professional singer.
Anthony: That's right.
Michael: And what happens if you fail.
Anthony: I won't fail.
Michael: Men always believe that. With a law degree you're taking on insurance. After that you can do anything you want. You can work for me.
Anthony: I will never work for you. I have bad memories.
Michael: All families have bad memories.
Anthony: I will always be your son, but I will never have anything to do with your business.
Michael: Anthony, finish the law degree.
Anthony: No.
Kay: That he got from you. That "no."
Michael: You could have helped me, Kay. You could have helped me to convince him.
Kay: Convince him of what?
Michael: He throws his life away. He throws greatness away!
Kay: This is greatness? You know, Michael, now that you're so respectable I think you're more dangerous than you ever were. In fact, I preferred you when you were just a common Mafia hood.
Michael: Alright, can we talk now? Common sense?
Kay: Alright. Tony knows you killed Fredo.
Michael: Why did you come here?
Kay: I came here to protect my son. I didn't come here to see you disguised by your church. I thought that was a shameful ceremony.

Joey: The Miucci association and elected you their Italian American man of the year.
[hands Michael a plaque]
Michael: Oh, Miucci. Who's Miucci?
Joey: He's the Italian American who invented the telephone. He did it one year before Alexander Graham Bell.
Michael: Oh. And this is the reason you have come to my home on this day.
Joey: I have a stone in my shoe, Mr. Corleone. A two-bit punk who works for me. Who thinks he's related to you. A bastard.
Al: He's here. Vincent Mancini. He's at the party.
Michael: Well, bring him in.
Joey: I think it's good that we talk. I have a problem. Now I have to find out if it is my problem or your problem.
Michael: Joey, your business is your business. I have no interest, no percentages. I'm out.
Joey: Good, then it is my problem.
Connie: [Connie and Vincent enter] Michael, you know Vincent Mancini. Sonny's boy.
Vincent: Hey, how you doin' Mr. Corleone.
Michael: How you doing.
Vincent: I'm doin' good. How you doin'?
Michael: Good.
Vincent: Nice party.
Michael: Oh, you like it?
Vincent: Yeah, I had to sneak in.
Michael: Well, you dressed for it. What's the trouble between you and Mr. Joe Zasa?
Vincent: Just trouble. I'll take care of it.
Michael: That's foolish of you.
Vincent: Foolish of me? It's a little foolish of this guy don't you think? Right? RIGHT!
Michael: Temper like his father. Vincent, Mr. Joe Zasa now owns what used to be the Corleone family business in New York. Out of the kindness of his heart he gave you a job with his family. Contrary to my advice you took the job. I offered you something better. Something in the legitimate world. You turned me down. Now you both come to me with this bad blood. What do you expect me to do? Am I a gangster?
Vincent: No, no, you're not a gangster, Uncle Mike.
Connie: Michael, that's Papa's old neighborhood now it's a sewer. Zasa runs it like a disgrace the ladies told me.

Sonny: Hey, whaddya gonna do, nice college boy, eh? Didn't want to get mixed up in the Family business, huh? Now you wanna gun down a police captain. Why? Because he slapped ya in the face a little bit? Hah? What do you think this is the Army, where you shoot 'em a mile away? You've gotta get up close like this and - bada-BING! - you blow their brains all over your nice Ivy League suit. C'mere...
[kisses Michael's head]
Michael: Sonny...
Sonny: You're taking this very personal. Tom, this is business and this man is taking it very, very personal.

[Clemenza prepares Michael for his meeting with Sollozzo]
Clemenza: [holding up a .22] It's as cold as they come, impossible to trace. So you don't have to worry about prints, Mike. I put a special tape on the trigger and the butt. Here, try it...
[Michael takes the gun, but can't seem to fire it]
Clemenza: What's the matter, trigger too tight?
[With a loud bang, Michael finally discharges the gun]
Michael: Ow! My ears.
Clemenza: Yeah, I left it noisy. That way it scares any pain-in-the-ass innocent bystanders away. All right, you shot them both, now what do you do?
Michael: Sit down and finish my dinner.
Clemenza: Come on, kid, don't fool around. Just let your hand drop to your side and the gun slip out. Everyone will still think you've got it. They're gonna be staring at your face, Mike. So walk out of the place real fast, but you don't run. Don't look nobody directly in the eye, hut don't look away either. They're gonna be scared of you, believe me, so don't worry about nothing.
[while talking, Clemenza takes the gun and begins working on it to fix the trigger]
Clemenza: You know, Mike, you're gonna turn out all right. You take a long vacation, nobody knows where, and we'll catch the hell.
Michael: How bad do you think it's gonna be?
Clemenza: Pretty goddam bad. Probably all the other Families will line up against us. That's all right. These things gotta happen every five years or so, ten years. Helps to get rid of the bad blood. Been ten years since the last one. You know, you gotta stop them at the beginning. Like they should have stopped Hitler at Munich, they should never let him get away with that, they was just asking for trouble.
[Clemenza now finishes working on the gun]
Clemenza: You know, Mike, we was all proud of you being a hero and all. Your father too.
[Clemenza hands the gun back to Michael]

Don: I hope you don't mind the way I keep going over this Barzini business.
Michael: No, not at all.
Don: It's an old habit. I spent my whole life trying not to be careless. Women and children can afford to be careless, but not men.

Michael: [speaking to Carlo] Only don't tell me you're innocent. Because it insults my intelligence and makes me very angry.

Michael: Never let anyone know what you are thinking.

Michael: [to the Don, quietly] Just lie here, Pop. I'll take care of you now. I'm with you now. I'm with you.
[he takes the Don's hand and kisses it, the Don begins to cry]

Michael: When they come... they come at what you love.

Connie: [shrieking at Michael] You killed my husband! You waited until our father died so nobody could stop you and you killed him! You killed him! You blamed him for Sonny, you always did, everybody did. But you never thought about me. You never gave a dam about me. What am I going to do now?
Kay: [taking Connie in her arms] Connie...
Connie: Why do you think he kept Carlo at the mall? All the time he knew he was going to kill him. And then he stood Godfather to our baby. You think you know your husband? You know how many men he had killed! Read the papers. Read the papers! That's your husband!
[Michael takes Connie into her arms, but she goes wild again and tries to attack him]
Michael: Take her upstairs. Get her a doctor.
[Michael's bodyguards grab Connie and pull her out of the office]
Michael: [to Kay] She's hysterical.
Kay: Is it true?
Michael: Don't ask me about my business, Kay.
Kay: Is it true?
Michael: Don't ask me about my business...
Kay: No...
Michael: [slams the desk] ENOUGH!

Sonny: Tom-anuch! Hey, a hundred button men on the street twenty-four hours a day. That Turk shows one hair on his ass, he's dead. Believe me.
Sonny: [to Michael, whose face is bruised] Hey Michael, c'mere. Let me look at you. You look beautiful, just beautiful, you're gorgeous. Hey, listen to this. The Turk, he wants to talk. You imagine the nerve on this son of a bitch, hey? Craps out last night he wants a meetin' today.
Tom: What did he say?
Sonny: What did he say? Badda-beep, badda-bap, badda-boop, badda-beep, he wants us to send Michael to hear the proposition, and the promise is the deal is so good we can't refuse. Hey.
Tom: What about Bruno Tattaglia?
Sonny: That's part of the deal. Bruno cancels out what they did to my father.
Tom: Sonny, we ought to hear what they have to say.
Sonny: No, no, no! No more! Not this time, Consigliere! No more meetin's! No more discussions! No more Sollozzo tricks! You give 'em one message - I want Sollozzo. If not, it's all-out war, we go to the mattresses.
Tom: Some of the other families won't sit still for all-out war!
Sonny: Then they hand me Sollozzo!
Tom: Your father would want to hear this. This is business, not personal.
Sonny: They shot my father? It's business, your ass.
Tom: Even the shooting of your father was business, not personal, Sonny!
Sonny: Well then, business will have to suffer, all right? And listen, do me a favor, Tom. No more advice on how to patch things up, just help me win, please. All right?
Tom: I found out about this Captain McClusky who broke Mike's jaw.
Sonny: What about him?
Tom: Now, he's definitely on Sollozzo's payroll and for big money. McClusky has agreed to be the Turk's bodyguard. What you have to understand, Sonny, is that while Sollozzo's being guarded like this he is invulnerable. Now, nobody has ever gunned down a New York police captain. Never. It would be disastrous. All the five families would come after you, Sonny. The Corleone Family would be outcast. Even the old man's political protection would run for cover. So, do me a favor, take this into consideration.
Sonny: All right, we wait.
Michael: It can't wait.
Sonny: Huh?
Michael: It can't wait. I don't care what Sollozzo says about a deal, he's gonna kill Pop. That's it. That's a key for him. Gotta get Sollozzo.
Clemenza: Mikey's right.
Sonny: Let me ask you something, Professor. I mean, what about this McClusky, huh? What do we do with this cop here?
Michael: They want to have a meeting with me, right? It will be me, McClusky and Sollozzo. Let's set the meeting. Get our informants to find out where it's going to be held. Now we insist it's a public place - a bar or a restaurant, some place where there's people there so I'll feel safe. They're going to search me when I first meet them, right? So I can't have a weapon on me then. But if Clemenza can figure a way to have a weapon planted there for me, then I'll kill them both.
Sonny: [Clemenza, Tessio and Sonny laugh] Hey. What are you gonna do? Nice college boy, huh? Didn't want to get mixed up in the family business? Now you want to gun down a police captain, what, 'cause he slapped you in the face a little bit, huh? What do you think, this the Army where you shoot 'em a mile away? No, you gotta get up close like this - badda-bing! - you blow their brains all over your nice Ivy League suit. C'mere.
[Kisses Michael on the head]
Sonny: You're taking this very personal. Tom, this is business and this man is taking it very, very personal.

Michael: I feel... I'm getting wiser now.
Kay: The sicker you get, the wiser you get, huh?
Michael: When I'm dead, I'm gonna be really smart.

Michael: The higher I go, the crookeder it becomes.

Michael: Italian politics have had these men for centuries. They are the true Mafia.

B.J. Harrison: [about the pope; before the opera] The Pope's doing exactly what you said he'd do, he's cleaning house.
Michael: He should be careful. It's dangerous to be an honest man.

[last lines]
Michael: All right. This one time I'll let you ask me about my affairs.
Kay: Is it true? Is it?
Michael: No.
[Kay smiles and walks into his arms]
Kay: I guess we both need a drink, huh?
[Kay goes to the kitchen to fix a drink, but sees Peter Clemenza, Rocco Lampone and Al Neri enter Michael's office]
Clemenza: Don Corleone.
[Clemenza kisses Michael's hand, and Neri shuts the door in her face...]

Michael: Just when I thought I was out... they pull me back in.

Vincent: I am your son. Command me in all things.
Michael: Give up my daughter. That is the price you pay for the life you choose.

Kay: Michael, you never told me you knew Johnny Fontane!
Michael: Sure, you want to meet him?
Kay: Well, yeah! Sure.
Michael: My father helped him with his career.
Kay: How did he do that?
Michael: ...Let's listen to the song.
Kay: [after listening to Johnny for a while] Tell me, Michael. Please.
Michael: Well, when Johnny was first starting out, he was signed to a personal services contract with this big-band leader. And as his career got better and better, he wanted to get out of it. But the band leader wouldn't let him. Now, Johnny is my father's godson. So my father went to see this bandleader and offered him $10,000 to let Johnny go, but the bandleader said no. So the next day, my father went back, only this time with Luca Brasi. Within an hour, he had a signed release for a certified check of $1000.
Kay: How did he do that?
Michael: My father made him an offer he couldn't refuse.
Kay: What was that?
Michael: Luca Brasi held a gun to his head, and my father assured him that either his brains or his signature would be on the contract.
Kay: ...
Michael: ...That's a true story.
[cut to Johnny singing again for about 10 more seconds before going back to Michael]
Michael: That's my family Kay, that's not me.

Michael: I spent my life protecting my son. I spent my life protecting my family!
Kay: Let's be reasonable here, Michael. I mean, that's your big thing, isn't it? Reason backed up by murder.
Michael: Oh, God, you hate me. You hate me.
Kay: No, I don't hate you, Michael. I dread you.
Michael: I did what I could, Kay, to protect all of you from the horrors of this world.
Kay: But you became my horror. The children still love you, though. Especially Mary.
Michael: Well, that's something. We can build on that. For their sake. Let's try.
Kay: Only if you let Tony go to live his own life. Away from you.
Michael: I'll let Tony go.
Kay: Thank you.

Michael: [Referring to Vincent and Mary's romance] But he's your first cousin.
Mary: Then I love him first.

[Michael sees a man dressed in black coming to Vito's hospital room]
Michael: Who are you?
Enzo the Baker: I am Enzo. The baker. Do you remember me?
Michael: Enzo...
Enzo the Baker: Yes, Enzo.
Michael: You better get out of here, Enzo, there's gonna be trouble.
Enzo the Baker: If there is trouble, I stay here to help you. For your father. For your father.

Michael: [to Mary] I would burn in hell to keep you safe.

Michael: I swear on the lives of my children, give me one last chance to redeem myself and I will sin no more.

Michael: My credit good enough to buy you out?
Moe: Buy me out?
[Fredo laughs nervously]
Michael: The hotel, the casino. The Corleone Family wants to buy you out.
Moe: The Corleone Family wants to buy me out? No, I buy you out, you don't buy me out.
Michael: Your casino loses money, maybe we can do better.
Moe: You think I'm skimmin off the top, Mike?
Michael: [Michael shakes his head] You're unlucky.
Moe: You goddamn guineas you really make me laugh. I do you a favor and take Freddie in when you're having a bad time, and now you're gonna try and push me out!
Michael: You took Freddie in because the Corleone Family bankrolled your casino, and the Molinari Family on the Coast guaranteed his safety. Now we're talking business, let's talk business.
Moe: Yeah, let's talk business, Mike. First of all, you're all done. The Corleone Family don't even have that kind of muscle anymore. The Godfather's sick, right? You're getting chased out of New York by Barzini and the other Families. What do you think is going on here? You think you can come to my hotel and take over? I talked to Barzini - I can make a deal with him, and still keep my hotel!
Michael: Is that why you slapped my brother around in public?
Fredo: Aw, now that, that was nothin', Mike. Moe didn't mean nothin' by that. Yeah, sure he flies off the handle every once in a while, but me and him, we're good friends, right Moe?
Moe: I got a business to run. I gotta kick asses sometimes to make it run right. We had a little argument, Freddy and me, so I had to straighten him out.
Michael: You straightened my brother out?
Moe: He was banging cocktail waitresses two at a time! Players couldn't get a drink at the table! What's the matter with you?
Michael: I leave for New York tomorrow, think about a price.
Moe: Sonofabitch! Do you know who I am? I'm Moe Greene! I made my bones when you were going out with cheerleaders!
Fredo: Wait a minute, Moe, Moe, I got an idea. Tom, you're the Consiglieri and you can talk to the Don, you can explain...
Tom: Now hold it right there. The Don is semi-retired and Mike is in charge of the Family business now. If you have anything to say, say it to Michael.
Fredo: [Moe Greene leaves] Mike! You do not come to Las Vegas and talk to a man like Moe Greene like that!
Michael: Fredo, you're my older brother, and I love you. But don't ever take sides with anyone against the Family again. Ever.

Michael: You have to answer for Santino, Carlo. You fingered Sonny for the Barzini people.
Carlo: Mike, you got it all wrong.
Michael: Ah, that little farce you played with my sister. You think that would fool a Corleone?
Carlo: Mike, I'm innocent. I swear on the kids.
Michael: Sit down.
Carlo: Please don't do this to me, Mike. Please don't.
Michael: Barzini is dead. So is Phillip Tattaglia. Moe Greene. Stracci. Cuneo. Today I settled all family business so don't tell me that you're innocent. Admit what you did.
[Carlo starts sobbing]
Michael: Get him a drink. Don't be afraid, Carlo. Come on, you think I'd make my sister a widow? I'm Godfather to your son.
[Carlo get handed a drink]
Michael: Go ahead. Drink. Drink. No, you're out of the family business, that's your punishment. You're finished. I'm putting you on a plane to Vegas. Tom?
[Tom hands Michael an airplane ticket]
Michael: I want you to stay there, you understand?
[Carlo nods]
Michael: Only don't tell me that you're innocent. Because it insults my intelligence and it makes me very angry. Now, who approached you first? Barzini or Tattaglia?
Carlo: It was Barzini.
Michael: Good. There's a car outside that will take you to the airport. I'll call your wife and tell her what flight you're on.
Carlo: Listen, Mike...
Michael: Go on. Get out of my sight.

Sonny: Did he... did Clemenza tell you to drop the gun?
Michael: Yeah, a million times.

[speaking with the father of the girl he plans to marry, and after telling him that he's in hiding from some gangsters]
Michael: Some people will pay a lot of money for that information; but then your daughter would lose a father, instead of gaining a husband.

Johnny: It's your favorite song, Michael, where you going?
Michael: I'm just gonna go into the kitchen and listen to some Tony Bennett records.

Vincent: You had a gun. They only had a knife. You could have talked them into surrendering. Turned them over to the police.
Vincent: Hey, Uncle Mike, Zasa sent these guys I was just sending him a message that's all.
Michael: Now he has to send you a message back.
Vincent: Joey Zasa's gonna send me a message? Joey Zasa's gonna send me a message?
Connie: Michael, he did the right thing. He got Zasa's name.
Michael: What's Joey Zasa got to do this this? Joey Zasa's a patso. Joey Zasa. Alright, you are what you are. It's in your nature. From now on you stick close to me. You don't go anywhere, you don't do anything, you don't talk to anyone without checking with me first, understand?
Vincent: Yeah.
Michael: I've got problems with the commission, young man!
Vincent: Yeah, I know.
Michael: You don't make them any easier.
Vincent: I know.
Michael: Alright, go on. Get out of here.
Connie: Michael.
Michael: Yes.
Connie: Now they'll fear you.
Michael: Maybe they should fear you.

Michael: Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgment.

Joey: I earned that territory with my talent. Commission gave it to me, and you approved.
Michael: Yes.
Vincent: Hey, Uncle Mike, I came here for the party. I'm not here to ask you for any kind of help. I could just kill this bastard. He's the one who needs the help.
Michael: So kill him. What does all this have to do with me?
Vincent: Well, he's going around behind your back saying "Fuck Michael Corleone" all the time. See, that's one thing it has to do with you, right?
Vincent: [to Zasa] Say it to his face one time, say it to his face. ONE TIME!
Joey: Mr. Corleone, all bastards are liars. Shakespeare wrote poems about it.
Vincent: What am I gonna do with this guy, Uncle Mike. WHAT AM I GONNA DO WITH THIS GUY!
Michael: Joey, if there is some guy running around this city saying "Fuck Michael Corleone," what do we do with a piece of shit like that? He's a fuckin' dog.
Joey: Yes, it's true, if anyone would say such a thing they would not be a friend, they would be a dog.
Michael: My interests don't conflict with Mr. Joe Zasa's.
Vincent: Oh you don't know how much your interests conflict with Mr. Joe Zasa's, Uncle Michael.
Connie: He needs your support, Michael!
Vincent: Don't let me work for this guy no more, Uncle Mike. Let me come work for you.
Michael: For me? As what? Tough guy? I don't need tough guys. I need more lawyers. Since we have no conflicts, no debts, I accept your tribute. I wish you well. Vincent, make your peace with Mr. Joe Zasa, come on.
Joey: [Vincent hugs Zasa] Bastardo.
Michael: [Vincent bites Zasa's ear and Zasa is taken out of the office] Oh, Jesus Christ! Close it.
Vincent: Hey Uncle Mike, I told Connie this wasn't the right time for this. I mean, I know you're into bankers and Wall Street but everyone knows you're the final word, you're like the Supreme Court! All I want to do is protect you from these guys and your lawyers can't do that.
Michael: But you can.
Vincent: Yeah, I can do that.
Michael: And why should I be afraid of Joe Zasa?
Vincent: Well, he knows you're stopping him from rising up in the commission, Uncle Mike. I say we make him dead. You give me the order and I'll take care of it.
Michael: You'll take care of it? Maybe you should come with me for a few weeks. See what happens. See if you learn. Then, we'll talk about your future.
Vincent: I won't let you down.
Michael: Alright, go on.

Don: It's not personal. It's business.
Michael: Very well. You want to do business with me. I will do business with you.

Capt. McCluskey: I thought I got all you Guinea hoods locked up! What the hell are you doing here?
Michael: What happened to the men who were guarding my father, Captain?
Capt. McCluskey: I pulled them guys off of here, eh, now get away from this hospital!
Michael: I'm not leaving until you put some guards around my father's room.
Capt. McCluskey: Phil, take him in!
Cop with Capt. McCluskey outside hospital: The kid's clean Captain, he's a war hero! He's never been mixed up with the rackets...
Capt. McCluskey: Goddamn it Phil, I said take him in!
Michael: What's the Turk paying you to set up my father, Captain?
Capt. McCluskey: [to Patrolmen] Take a hold of him. Stand him up. Stand him up straight.
[punches Michael and breaks his jaw]

- Hold it!
Michael: Vincent...
- Yeah.
- Take the picture with us.
- Nice jacket.
- Photographer: Closer to the center, sir.
- Smile!

[Michael is kneeling alone in a room at the corpse of Don Tommasino in a coffin]
Michael: Goodbye my old friend. You could have lived a little longer, I could be closer to my dream. You were so loved, Don Tommasino. Why was I so feared, and you so loved? What was it? I was no less honorable. I wanted to do good. What betrayed me? My mind? My heart? Why do I condemn myself so? I swear, on the lives of my children: Give me a chance to redeem myself, and I will sin, no more.

Vincent: [in the helicopter] I'd like to take Joey Zasa up in one of these and drop him.
Michael: Joey Zasa is nothing. He's a small-time enforcer. He bluffs, threats, but nothing. You can see him coming a mile away.
Vincent: We should kill him before he kills...
Michael: No! Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgment.

Vincent: Well you tell him from me, that he can live, or he can die.
Michael: Vincent, will you SHUT UP!

Michael: My father is no different than any powerful man, any man with power, like a president or senator.
Kay: Do you know how naive you sound, Michael? Presidents and senators don't have men killed.
Michael: Oh. Who's being naive, Kay?

[first lines]
Michael: [voiceover] My dear children: It is now better than several years since I moved to New York, and I haven't seen you as much as I would like to. I hope you will come to the ceremony of papal honors given for my charitable work. The only wealth in this world is children; more than all the money, power on earth, you are my treasure.

Michael: I, uh, betrayed my wife. I betrayed myself. I've killed men, and I ordered men to be killed. No, it's useless. I killed... I ordered the death of my brother; he injured me. I killed my mother's son. I killed my father's son.

Tessio: Barzini's people chisle my territory and we do nothing about it. Pretty soon there won't be anyplace in Brooklyn that I can hang my hat.
Michael: Try and be patient.
Clemenza: I'm not asking for help, Mike, just take off the handcuffs.
Michael: Be patient.
Clemenza: We gotta protect ourselves. At least give me the chance to recruit some new men.
Michael: No. I don't want to give Barzini any excuse to start fighting.
Tessio: Mike, you're wrong.
Clemenza: Don Corleone, you once said the day would come when me and Tessio could form our own families. Until today I would never think of such a thing but now I must ask your permission.
Don: Well, Michael's head of the family now and if give his permission then you have my blessing.
Michael: After we make the move to Nevada you can break off from the Corleone Family and go off on your own. After we make the move to Nevada.
Clemenza: How long will that take?
Michael: Six months.
Tessio: Forgive me, Godfather, but with you gone me and Pete will come under Barzini's thumb sooner or later.
Clemenza: And I hate that Goddamn Barzini. In six months time there won't be nothin' left to build on.
Don: Do you have faith in my judgement?
Clemenza: Yes.
Don: Do I have your loyalty?
Clemenza: Yes, always Godfather.
Don: Then be a friend to Michael. Do as he says.
Michael: There are negotiations being made that are going to answer all of your questions and solve all of your problems. That's all I can tell you right now. Carlo, you grew up in Nevada. When we make our move there you're going to be my right hand man. Tom Hagen is no longer Consigliari. He's going to be our lawyer in Vegas. That's no reflection on Tom it's just the way I want it. Besides, if I ever help who's a better Consigliari than my father. That's it.
[Everyone except Hagen leaves]
Tom: Mike, why am I out?
Michael: You're not a wartime Consigliari, Tom. Things could get rough with the move we're making.
Don: Tom, I advised Michael. I never thought you were a bad Consigliari. I thought Santino was a bad Don, rest in peace. Michael has all my confidence as do you. But there are reasons why you must have nothing to do with what's going to happen.
Tom: Maybe I could help.
Michael: You're out, Tom.

Michael: Friends and money - oil and water.

Michael: Nephew, from this moment on, call yourself Vincent Corleone.

Michael: [after learning of Zasa's assassination] Don't ever give an order like that again. Not while I'm alive.
Vincent: Uncle Mike, it had to be done. You were too sick to make a decision. I got the go ahead from Neri and Connie.
Michael: Connie.
Vincent: It was the right thing to do.
Michael: It was not the right thing to do. I command this family, right or wrong. It was not what I wanted! Understand?
Vincent: Yes.
[Michael looks at Neri]
Al: Yes.
[Michael looks at Connie for a long time]
Connie: Yes!
Michael: Vincent, help me to my bed. I want to talk to you alone.
Michael: [Vincent helps Michael into his bed] My brother, your father, he and I. Opposites. But I never doubted his love. He would do anything for me. But his temper. Clouded his judgement. I don't want to see the same thing happen to you.