How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Citizen Cane.
Quote #1
NARRATOR: Kane's empire, in its glory, held dominion over thirty-seven newspapers, thirteen magazines, a radio network. An empire upon an empire. The first of grocery stores, paper mills, apartment buildings, factories, forests, ocean-liners—an empire through which for fifty years flowed, in an unending stream, the wealth of the earth's third richest gold mine.
As the radio announcer tells us, Charles Kane's fortune used to be one of the biggest in the world. He owned nearly everything there was to own, which just makes it all the more crushing when he squanders most of it on statues and his giant mansion, Xanadu.
Quote #2
KANE: You see, I have money and property. If I don't defend the interests of the underprivileged, somebody else will—maybe somebody without any money or any property. And that would be too bad.
Charles Kane sees himself as the savior of ordinary working people who are being exploited by the rich. He thinks he can be this person because he has all the wealth he'll ever need to wage war on the rich folks of America. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to realize that people's rights aren't a gift he can give to them out of generosity.
Quote #3
BERNSTEIN: It's no trick to make an awful lot of money if all you want is to make a lot of money.
Thompson seems to think that Thatcher is a smart man because he made a lot of money, but Bernstein disagrees. He thinks that making money isn't that hard if it's the only thing you care about. The thing is that most people care about other things like friends and family, so they try to lead balanced lives and don't end up getting rich.