You can make a bloody fortune in this racket and maintain just a small portion of your soul in the process.

I offer it to you in a voice that was playing inside my head at the very time. It’s an ironic voice, a glib voice, a self-serving voice, and at many times, a despicable voice. It’s a voice that allowed me to rationalize anything that stood in my way of living a life of unbridled hedonism. It’s a voice that helped me corrupt other people and manipulate them and bring chaos and insanity to an entire generation of young Americans.

He has always been quick to offer his opinion on matters like these. I find that rather odd, considering he has nothing to gain or lose on your decision. He has already been paid a small finder’s fee just for bringing you here. Whether or not you choose to do business with Union Bank does not bear on his pocketbook one way or the other.

What she had was an inner beauty, a certain heavenly warmth that radiated from every pore of her body and resonated with every word that escaped her lips. It was the beauty of perfectly still water, the beauty of cool mountain air, and the beauty of a forgiving heart.

I’m a firm believer that knowledge is power and that in a situation like this, where the stakes are so incredibly high, a lack of knowledge is a recipe for disaster. So I have to become more knowledgeable. Everyone, at some point, needs a mentor, and I look to you for just that. I have no idea how I’m supposed to operate within your jurisdiction. For example, what things are considered taboo? Where is the line of good judgment? What is considered recklessness and what is considered prudence? These are all things I must know if I’m to steer clear of trouble.

It is an idea. And by the very nature of being an idea it can’t be contained, nor can it be quashed.

I found myself desperately wanting to believe her. Just why, I still couldn’t explain, although it had something to do with the bizarre nature of the male animal- his vanity, his foolish pride, his desire not be to be spurned by a beautiful woman.

Generations of inbreeding yielded idiot sons and daughters who wrecked financial havoc on the great fortunes their blue-blooded ancestors had taken generations to build. (The magic of Charles Darwin working overtime.)

At the heart of any cult – whether it’s Stratton Oakmont or Great American. The fundamental belief is that in spite of what the rest of the world might be saying about them, everyone else is crazy and they’re sane.

Beauty if only skin-deep while ugliness cuts straight to the bone.

Its body seemed to be comprised of thick cylindrical stubs, glued together in haste by nothing but God’s good humor.

It will go down in the history books as nothing more than a failed experiment in bogus economics and corrupt ideology.