How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
He kept clear of the hoodlums, torpedoes, and thieves on their professional side. In that regard he was smarter than I, for I somehow got to be party to a robbery. (7.18)
"Torpedo" was a slang term for a hired gun. Augie and Simon both hang out at the poolroom, in close proximity to "professional" criminals, but only Augie gets to know them as criminals. We're looking at you, Al Capone.
Quote #2
In another direction, the criminals. Except that I never thought of them as such, but as boys I knew in the poolroom and saw also at school, dancing the double-toddle in the gym at lunch hour, or in the hotdog parlors. I touched all sides, and nobody knew where I belonged. I had no good idea of that myself. (7.25)
This is a constant problem throughout Augie's life—he doesn't know where he belongs, and he finds himself anywhere and everywhere, including at the scene of several crimes. In fairness to him, he doesn't aspire to live the life of a criminal, and crime doesn't hold special attraction for him.
Quote #3
Gorman was very bright, handsome and slim, clever at basketball. His father, who owned a tire shop, was well off, and there was no apparent reason for him to steal. (7.27)
Unlike Augie, Gorman is very deliberate about his criminal choices. He commits crimes because he wants to commit them. Desire, not need, drives him. He's attracted to crime, and he might be tempted by the danger of getting caught. Let's see how well that'll play out for him.
Quote #4
After the noise we scattered into the alley, but crept back when no one came. I was sick with the thing by now, but there was no getting out of it. (7.29)
Augie isn't cut out for crime, but he's also not cut out for much of any sort of commitment. He gets "sick with the thing" in many of his ventures, legal and illegal.
Quote #5
"Are you a real crook? Have you got the calling? I don't think I ever saw a stranger case of deceiving appearances then." (7.46)
For Einhorn, criminal activity doesn't make one a real crook. A real crook seems to be naturally inclined to the life of crime. Do you agree or disagree?
Quote #6
I took him up on this and considered it a break. Fifty dollars, clear, would go a long way toward easing my mind about Simon. […] I wanted a change of pressure, and to get out of the city. (9.54)
Augie doesn't tend to get bothered by moral questions when he's deciding whether or not to participate in a crime. The rightness or wrongness of the act doesn't enter into his calculus. Does this make him a psychopath? Or just a bit shortsighted?
Quote #7
There I went to the can first, and from the window saw a state trooper by the pump, examining the car, and no sign of Gorman […] There was almost a disaster before he recognized me, for he has a pistol in his hand—the gun Einhorn had warned me he carried. (9.58)
Einhorn had warned Augie that his involvement with criminals would get out of hand. He was right about Gorman. He's no mere thief; he's willing to murder. Augie's book-smart, as they say, but he's not too bright when it comes to picking his acquaintances. Kind of like Caesar, and we all know how that turned out.
Quote #8
Each of us, I suppose, was thinking in his own fashion that we didn't make a pair—I of the vanity of being so leaping dangerous, and he, despisingly, that I must have s*** in my blood, or such poolroom contempt. (9.66)
At least Augie can see that he doesn't belong with Gorman. That's not much, but it's a start. Note also that Augie's given us a glimpse into poolroom culture. Do you think Augie would have been so readily involved in criminal activity if he hadn't surrounded himself with criminals at the poolroom? That's like being a seal in a pool of sharks—you're just asking for trouble.
Quote #9
Probably Gorman hadn't even bothered to change the license plates of the car...His idea of outlawry wasn't any idea of mine. (9.78)
Does Gorman want to get caught? Augie says that he's a bright guy, but he doesn't seem too keen on avoiding the authorities. Even the naïve would-be criminal William H. Macy in the movie Fargo knew to replace the license plates!
Quote #10
[Padilla] said, "I'll explain how I feel about it. You see, I don't have larceny in my heart; I'm not a real crook. I'm not interested in it, so nobody can make a fate of it for me. That's not my fate. I might get into a little trouble, but I would never let them make it my trouble, get it? (10.130)
Manny Padilla echoes the thinking of Einhorn. Stealing is something he does, not a reflection of who he is, so he's not a real criminal. We're no Dr. Phil, but we'd say he's trying to distance himself from his own behavior.