"A lawyer with a briefcase can steal more
than a hundred men with guns."
by:
Mario Puzo
(1920-1999) Novelist
Source:
The Godfather
Rating:
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Reader comments about this quote:
... but a lawyer with a briefcase will not always be a crook, and does not take your life. Likewise, moral, ethical, sane men with guns are not to be feared.
 -- Anonymous, Reston, VA US     
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    Ain't that the truth!
     -- E Archer, NYC     
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    Still, I'd usually like to retain that lawyer!
     -- Bob, Eugene, OR     
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    Taken as one more lawyer joke it is a good quote-but my lawyers have done far more good for me then otherwise.Certainly applies to lawyer lobbyists running DC.
     -- EGL, LA     
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    As with any group, there are good ones and bad ones. When they move into politics some will even kill indiscriminately.
     -- Mike, Norwalk     
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    The law can be a shield or a weapon. It can be used as a shield by both the innocent and the guilty. Likewise, it can be used as a weapon against the innocent and guilty. Lawyers are simply the hired mercenaries.
     -- Ken, Allyn, WA     
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    Stupid analogy. Does he really mean it can happen, or is he suggesting it always happens? Of course, it's possible but means nothing -- and what does a briefcase have to do with it?.
     -- Jack, Green, OH     
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    Lawyers do take life, liberty, and property all day long.
     -- JT Ready, Mesa, AZ     
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    A lawyer's briefcase can come loaded with all manner of legal ammunition that can steal your property or your life.
     -- Ken, Allyn, WA     
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    Then, if the lawyer doesn't have his briefcase he's harmless? Does he need that, as a robber needs a weapon, or can't steal? It means nothing ...like the quote itself. A poorly constructed satire
     -- Jack, Green, OH     
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    If a robber doesn't have a gun is he necessarily harmless? A robber can beat you with his fists, just as a lawyer can beat you with his mind.
     -- Ken, Allyn, WA     
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    Anonymous and Jack Green, as usual you miss the point. And don't forget that almost all of our wonderful congress people are now or have been lawyers. Of course some are disbarred and most should be.
     -- jim k, Austin, Tx     
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    This quote must have come from the movie. The original novel's version is even bettter: "Lawyers can steal more money with a briefcase than a thousand men with guns and masks.” [Don Vito Corleone to his son Santino]

    I recommend reading the entire novel, and, while doing so, look for subtle hints dropped by Don Vito, especially, as to the way the Sicilian mafiosi had come to understand their need to avoid all government interactions. They operate as an invisible nation within another nation with their own police and judicial power, moral code, business code, etc.
     -- Bill Fairchild, Franklin, TN, USA     
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    Crime does pay — lawyers.  Everybody wants in on the racket.
     -- E Archer, NYC     
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    It's a briefcase and knowledge he's focused on. Not a gun and violence. Get smart. 
     -- Lawyer, NY     
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