Goodfellas Morality and Ethics Quotes

How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Goodfellas.

Quote #1

HENRY: Jimmy was the kind of guy who rooted for the bad guys in the movies.

Of all the morally depraved mobsters in the movie, Jimmy might be the morally depravedest. You know, if "depravedest" was a word. Paulie may be the boss, and Tommy may have an itchy trigger finger, but Jimmy is the last guy whose bad side we'd want to be on.

Quote #2

HENRY: And when the cops—they assigned a whole army to stop Jimmy—what'd he do? He made 'em partners.

When a fat bribe is involved, the cops forget their morals and ethics, too. These guys couldn't have run their business without the total cooperation of corrupt cops and other officials.

Quote #3

HENRY: By the time I grew up, there was $30 billion a year in cargo moving through Idlewild Airport, and believe me, we tried to steal every bit of it.

These guys may be crooks, but nobody can say they're not ambitious.