Mario Puzo: Attorneys More than Crooks
on Thursday, June 25, 2015Mario Puzo Money Quotation saying (in “The Godfather”) attorneys can rob others and threaten more effectively than armed criminals. Mario Puzo said:
“The lawyer with the briefcase can steal more money than the man with the gun” — Mario Puzo
In this quote, author Mario Puzo is drawing a comparison between different types of theft and their potential impacts. On a surface level, he is contrasting the direct stealing of money at gunpoint with the more subtle, systemic theft enabled through legal maneuvering and manipulation of laws/contracts.
Puzo seems to be suggesting that those with knowledge of complex financial and legal systems (“the lawyer with the briefcase”) have means to extract and siphon wealth that may far exceed simple armed robbery. His perspective underscores how technical expertise can be misused for illicit gain through legitimate-seeming but still unethical means.
The quote encourages examining indirect forms of theft that occur through abuse of positions of trust and legal authority for personal profit.