Goodfellas Traditions and Customs Quotes

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

Quote #4

HENRY: For most of the guys, killings got to be accepted. Murder was the only way that everybody stayed in line. You got out of line, you got whacked. Everybody knew the rules.

Everybody knows the rules because murder is one of the family's oldest, and grisliest, traditions.

Quote #5

HENRY: Saturday night was for wives, but Friday night at the Copa was always for the girlfriends.

As far as the mob's traditions and customs go, this one is non-negotiable. Can all of the bling in Brooklyn make up for your husband having a bunch of girlfriends?

Quote #6

HENRY: In prison, dinner was always a big thing. We had a pasta course, and then we had a meat or a fish. Paulie did the prep work. He was doing a year for contempt, and he had this wonderful system for doing the garlic. He used a razor, and he used to slice it so thin that it used to liquefy in the pan with just a little oil. It was a very good system.

Henry and his crew's elaborate prison dinners prove that customs don't go out the window just because these men can't go outside.