The Godfather is the greatest gangster movie ever made, and it’s probably going to stay that way. Film fans love it for too many reasons to count, even over 50 years after its initial release, but its quotability is certainly a highlight. Famous lines range pretty widely in tone, from Clemenza (Richard Castellano) explaining how to cook a tomato sauce to Don Corleone (Marlon Brando) saying he’ll make someone an offer he can’t refuse. Some of the most famous lines in The Godfather can be very amusing but not exactly the most intense or insightful. Compare that to the more dramatic dialogue, which carries so much weight that they’ve been cemented as some of the most well-known quotes in Hollywood history.
The most profound quotes in this New Hollywood masterpiece aren’t the lightweight ones, as good as they are. For example: “Leave the gun, take the cannolis” didn’t make the cut. Also, the quotes below aren’t necessarily tokens of wisdom that can be plucked out of context and immediately understood by people who haven’t even seen the movie. Rather, The Godfather’s most profound lines work together with the film’s overall vision and execution to create deep and emotionally powerful moments of clarity regarding the film’s character arcs and themes.
“A man who doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man.” – Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando)
When the weak-voiced Johnny Fontane (Al Martino) comes to the don for help with his career, Vito rebukes the man for wallowing in self-pity. He even goes so far as to make fun of the guy, pretending to cry “like a woman.” Then Vito asks if Johnny spends time with his family, and the singer says he does. Don Corleone’s reply speaks to the man’s dedication to his family: “Good. Because a man who doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man.”
This quote is pretty straightforward, but it also has a much deeper meaning regarding the godfather himself. As he just explained to Bonasera, spending time with the people close to you is essential—even when they’re just friends. So that goes double for family, and it marks a distinct difference between Vito and the don who will eventually take his place—something that The Godfather: Part II emphasizes even further.
“You talk about vengeance. Is vengeance going to bring your son back to you? Or my boy to me?” – Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando)
At the meeting of the Five Families, Don Tattaglia expresses his concern to the other mobster bosses that Don Corleone will seek retaliation once the feud between these two families ends. He posits that Corleone will wait a while for his position to grow stronger, at which point he will take revenge on Tattaglia for taking Sonny from him. Corleone’s reply is convincing: “You talk about vengeance. Is vengeance going to bring your son back to you? Or my boy to me?”
He also goes into a moving speech about how he’ll only retaliate against someone if his younger son (Michael) is somehow killed, but the basic idea is that all he wants is peace. Vito’s oratory prowess moves even Don Tattaglia, and they’re able to reconcile their differences then. This quote about vengeance is simple but true; bloodshed leads to more bloodshed, a point of view that sets him tragically apart from the future don (who soon takes on the philosophy of mercilessly taking out all of his enemies).
“And if by chance an honest man like yourself should make enemies, then they would become my enemies. And then they will fear you.” – Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando)
The very first scene of The Godfather is impeccably written, and there are many memorable lines. Perhaps the one that sums up the whole conversation best, however, would have to be when Vito is explaining to Bonasera that asking him to commit murder for money isn’t the right way to approach him. Instead, “If you had come to me in friendship, then this scum that ruined your daughter would be suffering this very day. And if, by chance, an honest man like yourself should make enemies, then they would become my enemies. And then they will fear you.”
Don Corleone ties the juxtaposing ideas of friendship and violence very closely, aptly conveying the film’s themes of loyalty and the need for justice in the face of an inept legal system. There’s also Brando’s delivery: the way he emphasizes “my,” how he walks over to Bonasera to close the distance between them (literally and figuratively), and the way he points at his guest when he says, “And then they will fear you.” Overall, this is an extremely insightful summation of the social expectations in one of the best mobster movies.
“Who’s being naive, Kay?” – Michael Corleone (Al Pacino)
When Michael finally decides to reconnect with Kay (Diane Keaton), she asks him why he’s working for his father when he once said that he would never associate with the family business. Michael’s defense is that his father “is no different than any other powerful man. Any man who’s responsible for other people. Like a senator or president.” Kay calls him naive, asserting that senators and presidents don’t have men killed. Michael looks at her, “Who’s being naive, Kay?”
This is one of The Godfather’s best quotes and one that probably resonated with its audience of the early ’70s—a time when distrust in the government was increasing more and more. It’s no less appealing to audiences today, too. This famous quote ties things back to the notion of a corrupt and unjust system that the mafia replicates. It’s also fascinating to see how Michael has justified his association with the family business, saying the politicians are just as bad—rather than trying to argue that his business is a good one (though he’ll claim it will eventually become legitimate).
“It’s not personal, Sonny. It’s strictly business.” – Michael Corleone (Al Pacino)
When Michael first brings up the idea of killing Captain McCluskey (Sterling Hayden) and Virgil Sollozzo (Al Lettieri) himself, Sonny (James Caan) laughs it off. He kisses his younger brother on the head, telling him that this is business and Michael is taking the situation personally because McCluskey broke his jaw earlier (not to mention the attempt on their father’s life). It’s a good point, but Michael counters by pitching the idea of a crooked cop getting what was coming to him as a sensational story that the newspapers will gobble up.
With the fact that they’ve got newspaper guys on the payroll, Tom is convinced the plan might work. Then Michael looks at Sonny with this cold look in his eyes and says, “It’s not personal, Sonny. It’s strictly business.” The way Pacino delivers this quote makes it perfectly clear that the plan is absolutely personal; Michael just so happens to have come up with a well-thought-out and practical way to deal with its ramifications. It marks a profound change in Michael’s demeanor, as this is the kind of killer look that we’ll see more and more throughout this film and its immediate sequel.
“That’s my family, Kay. It’s not me.” – Michael Corleone (Al Pacino)
After Michael tells Kay the story of Johnny and the bandleader, in which the godfather threatened the band leader’s life, she doesn’t know what to say. Obviously, she doesn’t approve, but Michael assures her that he has nothing to do with any of that stuff: “That’s my family, Kay. It’s not me.” There is a lot going on in this scene. First of all, Kay’s expression changes to show how she’s gone from enjoying herself to looking at her date in a very different way.
Meanwhile, Michael mostly doesn’t make eye contact with her as he tells the story and takes a drink after, apparently conveying a sense of shame (or at least disapproval). Also, take note that he didn’t even want to tell the story in the first place, similar to how he’ll tell Kay not to ask him about his business in the film’s final scene. We can see Michael’s coldness here, but it’s directed at his family instead and proves an honest exchange with his to-be wife. It’s a concise way of illustrating very early in the film just what kind of person Michael is while perfectly setting up how much he (and his relationship with Kay) will drastically change.
“I believe in America.” – Amerigo Bonasera (Salvatore Corsitto)
In one of the greatest opening monologues in movie history, the words “I believe in America” are spoken before a black screen. Then, we’re shown a man’s face half-masked in darkness, and the camera slowly backs up to reveal that he’s speaking to the godfather. This man talks about how America is where he’s made his fortune, but he goes on to describe his daughter’s ordeal at the hands of her boyfriend and his friend. After she refused to sleep with them, they beat her severely.
The courts didn’t punish these boys in any real way, hence Bonasera’s appearance. In light of the monologue, those opening lines aren’t talking about how much he believes in the American courts so much as he believes in this country’s potentially useful alternatives to formal justice. It’s an excellent introduction to this film’s deconstruction of the American Dream and decent citizens’ reluctant embrace of the mafia. The dramatic power with which this line is delivered works perfectly with the lighting and camera work to present The Godfather’s main themes.
“I’m with you now.” – Michael Corleone (Al Pacino)
When Michael finds his father alone in the hospital, he has the nurse help him move this patient to another room so that the added security won’t be enough for the obviously planned assassination to work. Vito is too weak to talk, but he is awake and lucid enough to understand Michael when he leans down and tells him, “I’m with you now.” The look on Michael’s face is intense, and it’s clear that, under pressure, his loyalty to his father has won.
The look in Michael’s eyes tells the audience that he’s not going to change his mind even after his father gets better. The best part, though, is the tear that rolls down Don Corleone’s face. The explanation is explicitly stated later in an excellent dialogue between them, but the audience can already tell that Vito wishes his son wouldn’t join the Corleone family. Unfortunately, tragically—there doesn’t seem to be much of a choice at the moment.
“I never wanted this for you.” – Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando)
Near the end of The Godfather, Vito and Michael are talking. The former head of the Corleone family is giving his son advice on how things will happen going forward, and at one point Michael reminds him that he already said this. After Vito says he forgot, Michael asks him what’s troubling him. Vito explains, “I never wanted this for you.” Instead, he wanted Michael to have a more legitimate way to make a living and have influence on society.
Mirroring the scene in which Vito sheds a tear after hearing Michael say, “I’m with you now,” this conversation more directly addresses Vito’s feelings regarding this transfer of power. The way Brando delivers this entire monologue is masterful, and it goes without saying that his Vito is one of the greatest career-defining performances in movie history. Pacino’s, too, and Michael’s distrust of the type of people that Vito wishes he had become emphasizes that the aging Corleone’s dream for his youngest son is long gone.
“Don Corleone.” – Peter Clemenza (Richard Castellano)
In one of the greatest movie endings of all time, Kay is fixing drinks when she can see a few men entering her husband’s office in the adjoining room. She can only see through the limited space of the door frame, and then we get a closer shot (still through the door frame) of Clemenza embracing Michael as the new don. He then kisses Michael’s hand and says, “Don Corleone.” The respect that Clemenza pays Michael is the same he had paid to his father.
The fact that Kay sees this from a separate room shows just how far removed she is from her husband and how much he has changed since the beginning of the movie. Along with the slower take on the movie’s score, this proves to be the end of one of the darkest character trajectories in cinema history. When a scene is shot this evocatively, the dialogue need not be extensive. As such, those two words (“Don Corleone”) are enough to tell us everything we need to know. It’s one of American cinema’s most profound moments, and it marks an unforgettable end to this mafia masterpiece.
