Al Capone: Friends as Quarters or Pennies
on Monday, October 22, 2018Al Capone Money Quote saying you can have literally a hundred friends who are worth very little or just a few who are worth much more to you. Al Capone said:
“Be careful who you call your friends. I’d rather have four quarters than one hundred pennies” — Al Capone
In this quote, Al Capone seems to be advising caution in choosing close associates or “friends”, as well as a preference for quality over quantity. Some key points:
- Capone warns people to “be careful who you call your friends”, implying not all relationships are trustworthy and some associates may prove disloyal or become liabilities.
- He states a preference for “four quarters” over “one hundred pennies”. In this context, quarters likely refers to trusted allies who are worth their weight in gold, while pennies represents many superficial acquaintances who are insignificant individually.
- Capone appears to value loyalty, reliability and strength of a select few relationships over large numbers of fair-weather or untested friends.
Overall, the quote conveys Capone’s perspective that in dangerous lines of work like organized crime, true friends who can be depended on in times of trouble are more valuable than many casual associates. For him, quality of connections mattered more than mere quantity or popularity.
Birthday: January 17, 1899 – Died: January 25, 1947