Jimmy Hoffa quotes

Jimmy Hoffa was an American labor union leader and well-known activist, famous for his role as president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. His leadership and negotiations significantly shaped labor rights and union power in the United States. He mysteriously disappeared in 1975 and remains one of the most enduring figures in the history of American labor. Here are 23 of his quotes:

They all know I'm back, very much back, and that I will be the general president again come hell or high water.

Jimmy Hoffa

I've said consistently that no employer ever really accepts a union. They tolerate the unions. The very minute they can get a pool of unemployment they'll challenge the unions and try to get back what they call managements prerogatives, meaning hire, fire, pay what you want.

Jimmy Hoffa

I do to others what they do to me, only worse.

Jimmy Hoffa

But to hear Kennedy when he was grandstanding in front of the McClellan Committee you might have thought I was making as much out of the pension fund as the Kennedys made out of selling whiskey.

Jimmy Hoffa

In the ten years I was president of the Teamsters, I had raised the membership from eight hundred thousand to more than 2 million and made it the largest single labor union the world.

Jimmy Hoffa

Hell, I'm not saying I'm an angel, but when it came to dirty tricks I couldn't hold a candle to the Irish Mafia.

Jimmy Hoffa

You almost had to live through it to really know the gut ripping misery of the depression during the early thirties which led to labor's bloodiest and most violent days.

Jimmy Hoffa

But because we are financially solid, because we do have an organization that is equipped to handle any situation that comes in front of us, we are successful in getting from the employers what are members want and need without strikes.

Jimmy Hoffa

Sure, we loaned money to build hotels and casinos in Las Vegas. So what? Las Vegas borrowers were good customers.

Jimmy Hoffa

Mob guys had muscle, and where in hell do you think employers got the tough guys when they wanted to break a strike?

Jimmy Hoffa

We never had any silk sheets in our family...

Jimmy Hoffa

It has to be considered damned unusual that no other union was ever investigated.

Jimmy Hoffa

Power leads to more power, no matter what your racket, and not only were they rich and influential but they were smart as hell, too.

Jimmy Hoffa

A slab of bread "buttered" with lard and, if you were lucky, seasoned with salt and pepper, was a luxury.

Jimmy Hoffa

Our rooms were bugged, our phones were tapped, and our lawyer's rooms were broken into and their files stolen. We finally had to hire armed guards with pistols to be able to maintain our records. It was hard to believe we weren't in Russia.

Jimmy Hoffa

I may have my faults, but being wrong ain't one of them.

Jimmy Hoffa

I let him strain for a couple of seconds. Then like taking candy from a baby, I flipped his arm over and cracked his knuckles on the top of the table. It was strictly no contest and he knew it. But he had to try again. Same results.

Jimmy Hoffa

Run from a knife and rush a gun.

Jimmy Hoffa

Nobody in this country respects what's weak. You believe me!

Jimmy Hoffa

I'll be back.

Jimmy Hoffa