“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. 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.”
“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?”
“Some call it bootlegging. Some call it racketeering. I call it a business.”
“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 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 got nothing against the honest cop on the beat. You just have them transferred someplace where they can’t do you any harm. But don’t ever talk to me about the honor of police captains or judges. If they couldn’t be bought they wouldn’t have the job.”