Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.

Often treated as an “anonymous” aphorism, the line is best known as dialogue from the film The Godfather (1972). It is spoken by Peter Clemenza (played by Richard S. Castellano) immediately after a mob hit: he instructs an associate to abandon the murder weapon (“Leave the gun”) but to retrieve the pastries (“Take the cannoli”) that had been purchased earlier. The juxtaposition of routine domesticity with sudden violence became emblematic of the film’s tone—criminal brutality embedded in everyday life—and the line has since circulated widely in popular culture as a darkly comic, quotable maxim.

The quote’s force comes from its blunt prioritization: dispose of incriminating evidence, but don’t waste dessert. In miniature, it captures a central Godfather theme—the normalization of violence within a code-bound, almost familial world where practical details and small comforts still matter. The humor is macabre: the speaker’s calm attention to cannoli underscores emotional detachment and professional routine. In later reuse, the line is often invoked to suggest ruthless pragmatism paired with indulgence, or to satirize the way people compartmentalize moral gravity while fixating on trivialities.

“Leave the gun, take the cannoli.”
“Leave the gun. Take the cannoli!”