Why'd you pay for that drink? A wise guy never pays for his drinks.
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Paul Attanasio
Paul Albert Attanasio (born November 14, 1959) is an American screenwriter and film and television producer, who was an executive producer on the television series House (2004–2012). He received Academy Award nominations for the Quiz Show (1994) and Donnie Brasco (1997) screenplays. 2Life and career Paul Attanasio was born in The Bronx, New York City, the son of Connie, a real estate broker, and Joseph Attanasio, a commercial consultant. He grew up in the Pelham Bay section of the Bronx, and later in Tenafly, New Jersey, where he attended public high school. He is a 1981 graduate of Harvard College, where he lived in Currier House, and earned his law degree at Harvard Law School in 1984. Formerly married to Katie Jacobs, he is now married to Amanda Benefiel, an artist, and has three children, Annabelle, John, and Grace who is currently at Brown University. He is the brother of Mark Attanasio, a Los Angeles investment manager who is the principal owner of the Milwaukee Brewers. He was a film critic for The Washington Post from 1984 to 1987. He started writing for television with the CBS sitcom Doctor Doctor and the NBC crime drama Homicide: Life on the Street, for which he holds a 'Created by' credit. In 1995 he won the BAFTA for his screenplay adaptation for the drama Quiz Sho
Who the fuck am I? Who am I? I'm a, a spoke on a wheel. And so was he, and so are you.
When I introduce you, I'm gonna say, ‘This is a friend of mine.’ That means you're a connected guy. Now if I said instead, this is a friend of ours that would mean you a made guy. Capisci?
In all the five boroughs, I'm known, forget about it, I'm known all over the fucking world, anybody asks about Lefty from Mulberry Street, you're pissing up the world fucking street my friend.
A guy like you don't touch a made guy, you know what I did yesterday? I went in front of the skippers, I'm going on the record with you, nobody can touch you now, I'm your man, Jesus Christ couldn't touch you because I represent you, keep your nose clean, be a good earner follow the rules, and who…
When they send for you, you go in alive, you come out dead, and it's your best friend that does it.
A wise guy's always right; even when he's wrong, he's right.
[Lefty Ruggiero is explaining Mafia code to Donnie Brasco] If I say you're a friend of mine, that means you're connected. If I say you're a friend of ours, that means you're a made guy. If I introduce you, I'm responsible for you. Anything wrong with you, I go down.
[Lefty is cooking dinner in his kitchen] Lefty: Punch of salt. Donnie Brasco: [watching him from behind him] Punch? Lefty: Punch. Punch of salt. Donnie Brasco: Punch or pinch? Lefty: Punch, punch. Not pinch. What'd I say? I say pinch? Donnie Brasco: Nah, you said... you said punch. Lefty: Sometimes…
Donnie Brasco: [Lefty tends to the pigeon coops on the roof of his building. Donnie's alongside him] Did you know there used to be falcons in New York? Lefty: They got everything in this fucking city. Donnie Brasco: Peregrine falcons. They lived across the river. Lefty: In Queens? Donnie Brasco: In…
You know something? [Donnie soon boasts, when he meets FBI agents in a place the mob would never look, a kosher restaurant] I got him. I got my hooks in the guy. [referring to Lefty Ruggiero]
Donnie Brasco: [while carrying bags and coolers onto the boat] Hey Richie, what are you trying to do, get me killed with that fucking suit? Richard 'Richie' Gazzo: What? Donnie Brasco: That fucking car, purple fucking car. Don't say the word plotz, you understand? Richard 'Richie' Gazzo: Yeah, yeah.
[referring to Bruno, to Lefty, while in his car] Twenty years you know a guy, you fuckin' whack him out just like that over a lounge? That's beautiful.
Maggie Pistone: God, why do you hate me when I love you so much? Donnie Brasco: [standing in front of each other in their garage] You think I hate you? I don't hate you. This job is eating me alive. I can't breathe anymore. And if I come out, this guy Lefty dies. They're gonna kill him because he…
If I come out alive, this guy, Lefty, ends up dead. That's the same thing as me putting the bullet in his head myself.
Donnie Brasco: You think I'm a rat...? Lefty: [to Donnie's while in his car, before putting a loaded revolver to his head] How many times have I had you in my house? If you're a rat, then I'm the biggest mutt in the history of the Mafia.
Lefty: [standing next to Donnie's car at night] There's the boss. And, under him, there's the skipper. You know how this works? Donnie Brasco: Yeah, it's like in the army. Lefty: Bullshit. The army is some guy you don't know telling you to go whack some other guy you don't know.
FBI Technician: [sitting on the floor of a motel room, reserved for the FBI] What's ‘Forget about it’? Donnie Brasco: Forget about it’ is, like, if you agree with someone, you know, like ‘Raquel Welch is one great piece of ass. Forget about it!’ But then, if you disagree, like ‘A Lincoln is better…