The Godfather

The Godfather

by Mario Puzo
The Don of the Barzini Family, the second most powerful Family behind the Corleones. Barzini controls gambling in Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island. He also has interests in Las Vegas, Cuba, and Miami Beach. Barzini allies with Phillip Tattaglia and Virgil Sollozzo to murder Don Vito Corleone in order to weaken Corleone’s turf and absorb his political connections.

Emilio Barzini Quotes in The Godfather

The The Godfather quotes below are all either spoken by Emilio Barzini or refer to Emilio Barzini. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Crime and Justice Theme Icon
).

Chapter 20 Quotes

Nothing was more calming, more conducive to pure reason, than the atmosphere of money.

Related Characters: Phillip Tattaglia, Emilio Barzini, Don Vito Corleone, Thomas “Tom” Hagen
Page Number and Citation: 267
Explanation and Analysis:

“We are all men who have refused to be fools, who have refused to be puppets dancing on a string pulled by the men on high. We have been fortunate here in this country […] Some of you have sons who are professors, scientists, musicians, and you are fortunate. Perhaps your grandchildren will become the new pezzonovanti.”

Related Characters: Don Vito Corleone (speaker), Emilio Barzini, Phillip Tattaglia, Thomas “Tom” Hagen
Page Number and Citation: 278
Explanation and Analysis:

Chapter 28 Quotes

“Revenge is a dish that tastes best when it is cold.”

Related Characters: Don Vito Corleone (speaker), Michael Corleone, Santino “Sonny” Corleone, Thomas “Tom” Hagen, Peter “Pete” Clemenza, Salvatore “Sal” Tessio, Emilio Barzini, Phillip Tattaglia, Bruno Tattaglia
Page Number and Citation: 387
Explanation and Analysis:
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Emilio Barzini Character Timeline in The Godfather

The timeline below shows where the character Emilio Barzini appears in The Godfather. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 20
Crime and Justice Theme Icon
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...shipping in New Jersey, Ottilio Cuneo, who runs smuggling in upper New York State, Emilio Barzini, head of the second most powerful Family behind the Corleones, and Phillip Tattaglia, whose Family... (full context)
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Don Barzini responds to Don Corleone’s “reasonable” opening statement. “Don Corleone is too modest,” he states, adding... (full context)
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...other Dons concur, and they agree to permit a regulated drug traffic—controlled mostly by the Barzinis and the Tattaglias—with Don Corleone supplying some political protection for it in the East. (full context)
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...as much as needed to bring Michael home from Sicily safely. The Don suspects that Barzini knows Michael is there and will send assassins after him. This revelation leads Hagen to... (full context)
Chapter 28
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Loyalty and Betrayal Theme Icon
...the Five Families and Don Corleone’s retirement, the Corleone Family’s strength has declined, leaving the Barzini Family as the strongest in New York. Michael is now positioned to take over as... (full context)
Crime and Justice Theme Icon
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...vengeance for Apollonia and Sonny as well as a way to wrest power from Don Barzini. “Revenge is a dish that tastes best when it is cold,” the Don responds. With... (full context)
Chapter 29
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Loyalty and Betrayal Theme Icon
...the caporegimes that his plan for moving forward remains unaltered. Clemenza warns him that “the Barzinis and Tattaglias are going to move in on us real hard […] you gotta fight... (full context)
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Loyalty and Betrayal Theme Icon
...traitor will betray the Corleone Family by setting up a peace meeting between him and Barzini. Michael knows that this meeting will be a trap for Barzini to kill him. The... (full context)
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...up the hit, Tessio stands to inherit the Corleone Family and forge an allegiance with Barzini that will end the long-simmering war between the Five Families. Unlike the late Don Corleone,... (full context)
Chapter 31
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Rocco Lampone drives his car to a small hotel off the Jones Beach Causeway where Barzini’s and Tattaglia’s assassins murdered Sonny Corleone. He enters a hotel room to find a naked... (full context)
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...tells Hagen that he hopes Michael can secure “a good deal” at the meeting with Barzini. As Tessio and Hagen prepare to leave for the meeting, a group of bodyguards surround... (full context)
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...accompany him. “You have to answer for Santino,” Michael says, “you fingered Sonny for the Barzini people.” A terrified Carlo swears his innocence, but Michael cuts him off to tell him... (full context)
Crime and Justice Theme Icon
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...asks which of the other Dons approached Carlo to betray Sonny, Carlos says it was Barzini. As punishment, Michael says he will send Carlo to Las Vegas and exile him from... (full context)
Crime and Justice Theme Icon
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...dispose of any remaining traitors, Clemenza and new caporegime, Lampone take control of the remaining Barzini rackets and murder those men still loyal to the murdered Don. Those Barzini and Tattaglia... (full context)