14 Life Lessons From Scarface
September 4th, 2008
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Image from Scarface (1983)
1. The world doesn’t really care where you came from.
Don’t think that you need to have a certain background to make it to the top. If you’re lucky enough to be born in a free country, or you’re able to make it to one, you have a shot. You can be a political refugee with an accent, a scar, no money, no skills, and no connections, but you’re free to decide at any point to not let it hold you back.
2. The world can be yours…
Using nothing but street smarts and determination, Tony Montana achieved his vision of the American Dream. He had money, power, respect…everything he always wanted.
3. …but it comes at a price.
On the other hand, he was lucky to even survive long enough to get to that point, and it ended up costing him everything. Before you pursue something, know what the price is, and decide whether you’re willing to pay it. And don’t envy someone until you know what they’ve been through to get to where there are.
4. Don’t underestimate the other guy’s greed.
This was lesson number one from Frank Lopez, and Tony ignored it. If you’re standing in the way of someone who will stop at nothing in their fanatical pursuit of power, you might want to watch out for them.
5. Don’t get high on your own supply.
This was lesson number two from Frank Lopez, and Tony ignored it as well. Of course, literally staying off drugs is always a good idea (as well as moderating your consumption of alcohol and caffeine). But beyond that, you don’t want to get so absorbed in what you’re doing that you forget who you are.
6. The guys that last are the guys who fly straight. Low-key, quiet. But the guys who want it all, chicas, champagne, flash…they don’t last.
(You know, if Tony listened to Frank once in a while, things would have turned out very differently.) Don’t obsess about the pie in the sky. Stay focused and don’t get greedy, and you’ll win in the long run.
7. When you get involved with the wrong people, sometimes no decision is the right one.
Tony sealed his doom when he refused to carry out a hit after the target’s wife and two kids unexpectedly got in the car. He had to choose between sacrificing three innocent people and sacrificing himself. This is why you don’t want to work with people whose values are different from yours. There will be a conflict of interests at some point, and possibly no way out.
8. All you have in this world is your balls and your word—don’t break them for anyone.
This isn’t literally true—you have much more than that—but the point is to live by your own code of ethics. If a criminal can do it, then we certainly can too.
9. Every day above ground is a good day.
Be gracious for what you have. Very often we take things for granted until they’re gone.
10. Don’t kill your best friend for no reason.
Kind of an obvious lesson, but important nonetheless. Relationships that take years to build can take an instant to destroy, so don’t act hastily.
11. When people want to play rough, you can either say “I give up” or “Say hello to my little friend!”
Everyone faces seemingly unwinnable showdowns at some point. Sometimes surrender is the best option, and sometimes it isn’t. But if you’re going to make a stand, then really do it.
12. Be careful when naming something after something else.
Oliver Stone named Tony Montana after his favorite football player, Joe Montana. The problem is that giving him a non-Cuban name destroys the illusion of the movie. He might as well have called him Tony Navratilova or Tony Abdul-Jabbar. Other people might not have the same attachment to your creation’s namesake that you do. Keep this in mind before calling your company something like Joe Montana Software, because all that matters is what other people think of it.
13. If the rose smells sweet enough, someone will be willing to snip off the thorns.
Editing Scarface for network TV presented some serious challenges, most notably finding someone willing to dub out 226 f-words. But someone decided it was worth doing, and got it done.
14. Have a contingency plan.
In the final shootout, Al Pacino badly burned his hand by grabbing his gun by the barrel, and had to sit out for a few weeks. Fortunately, they were able to use this time somewhat productively by shooting a lot of footage of the other people in this scene. It could have been a lot worse. You want to identify your high-risk areas, do what you can to mitigate the risk, and know what you’ll do if things fall through.
Rated R for brief cocaine-fueled maniacal machine gun / grenade launcher violence.
Related reading: The Criminally-Minded Approach for Achieving Goals by Al at 7P. Al reminded me that I had this draft post sitting around collecting dust since January. Apparently I wrote a list post! Who’da thunk it?
September 4th, 2008 at 12:22 am
Ha! Good one Hunter, I laughed out loud with this post. “Tony Navratalova” would definitely not work as a name.
You nailed down what made Scarface tick. You nailed it a little too well, Hunter. Are there other MLM’s that you haven’t shared yet?
Al at 7Ps last blog post..The Criminally-Minded Approach for Achieving Goals
September 4th, 2008 at 1:23 am
Fantastic post, Hunter.
I especially like “Every day above ground is a good day.” We really should be grateful for every day we get, and should try our best to make the most of it.
Jamie
Jamie Harrops last blog post..Blogger Interview Series – Ben Barden
September 4th, 2008 at 1:43 am
Hi Hunter,
I like “When you get involved with the wrong people, sometimes no decision is the right one.” Boy, isn’t that the truth?
September 4th, 2008 at 6:49 am
“Say hello to my little friend” works better if you have a grenade launcher, of course…
Good post, I must say – #1 especially rings true. You can make it no matter where you’re from.
Brett Legrees last blog post..viking fridays – raiding party.
September 4th, 2008 at 8:29 am
My favorite:
“Don’t kill your best friend for no reason.”
I realize the deeper meaning, but it’s still funny.
Chad @ sentient moneys last blog post..Banks Failing…Good News?
September 4th, 2008 at 10:50 am
Hunter,
I never saw the movie- trying to avoid violence is kind of my thing, but I can still relate to the lessons you have here.
I especially like..
If the rose smells sweet enough, someone will be willing to snip off the thorns…
I think that could be applied to a lot of Life’s Lessons very nicely.
Wendi Kelly-Life’s Little Inspirationss last blog post..Changing Colors
September 4th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Who says the movies aren’t educational!
Chriss last blog post..A Ray Of Light, Part 7
September 4th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
Awesome! My favorite: “Every day above ground is a good day.” So true. One of my goals is to be grateful. Trying to teach it to my kids too.
Vered – MomGrinds last blog post..How To Lose 100 Subscribers in 4 Days
September 4th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
I was just thinking that you seemed to be posting more these days. How nice that you managed to unearth stuff that you’ve not published yet!
I like tip 7 best. It’s good to be clear which side you are on. Stay true to your values and what you believe in.
Evelyn Lims last blog post..An Enchanting Vision From My Angels
September 4th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
@ Al, well then, what are some other 80s names? Maybe Tony Jordan? Tony Reagan? Tony Dundee? Tony Rubik?
@ Jamie, I think I’m going to start using that saying when people ask me how I’m doing!
@ Barbara, uh-oh, it sounds like there’s a story there! Kind of like Catherine’s story about Adam and Eve.
@ Brett, ah, but the grenade launcher is a metaphor! We all have our little friend inside!
@ Chad, that one did stand out as being kind of funny, didn’t it?
@ Wendi, there’s really no need to see it, because all the important parts are right here in this post.
So you’re a thorn snipper, are you? Good for you!
@ Chris, did someone say they’re not? You learn way more from some 2 hour movies than 2 hours of school!
@ Vered, that’s one of my new favorites too (see my comment to Jamie). But maybe you should paraphrase the saying for your kids!
@ Evelyn, yeah, I’m trying to slow down, but some things just call to me! I started off trying to have extra drafts ready if I needed a break, but then I forgot about them, and now I see that some aren’t good enough to publish!
September 5th, 2008 at 4:40 am
Great list Hunter, must have taken you ages to put together, I think number 12 is my favourite
P.S. I’m going to add you to the personal development blogs list, you should be there by the time you check this:
http://www.pluginid.com/personal-development/
I would appreciate any link / traffic love you can share the way of that page, and I’m sure it will be returned
September 5th, 2008 at 9:57 am
Al Pacino is one of the sexiest men alive. The part of not getting greedy reminds me of a movie I once saw of a band of thieves that would give themselves an exact amount of time to get everything they could in a place (a minute or two) and when the time was up they would flee, even if there were diamonds within sight they were leaving behind. That way they made sure never to get caught. Sure enough, during one theft one of the thieves got greedy and stayed beyond the allotted time to get more, and that’s when they were caught. I really enjoyed this post Hunter. I’ve never seen Scarface but now thanks to you and Al I think today I’m going to go see if they have it at the Blockbusters near my house (yes, we have Blockbusters in Panama).
Marelisas last blog post..20 Ways to Raise Your IQ
September 5th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Hi Hunter – This is brilliant. I never used to realise how true getting your point was about getting involved with the wrong people. But it can really take you in the wrong direction and as you say, there probably isn’t a good direction whilst you’re still involved with those people.
September 6th, 2008 at 12:50 am
This post was partly done as an experiment to see if I could get some more male commenters. I normally have far more female commenters, but this time it’s a tie!
@ Glen, thanks for that link! I’ll definitely be blogging about it.
@ Marelisa, you know what he looks like now, right?
While I don’t think this is the movie you’re talking about, something similar happened in Point Break. They robbed banks, but only the registers–they never went for the vault…until someone got greedy. I actually didn’t particularly care for Scarface (except certain parts), but I’m glad I saw it once, as it’s a classic. The DVD extras are pretty cool.
@ Cath, definitely–sometimes the best thing to do is to break connections instead of trying to work things out. Not to say that we should give up on people easily, just beware of toxic relationships.
September 6th, 2008 at 7:01 am
[...] Spirit 14 Life Lessons From Scarface What Could You Accomplish If You Truly Freed [...]
September 6th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
What about lessons from the real scarface? Big Al Capone? He didn’t finish school, ruled Chicago, and died at what, 42?
Beth
September 7th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
I enjoy my fair share of violence, but I’ve never seen Scarface. Then again, I’ve never seen The Godfather either…. I should probably crawl out from under my rock and go rent some movies!
RL Davids last blog post..Meditation for Monday: Humility
September 7th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
@ Beth, I don’t know much about Al Capone, but the link at the bottom of the post (The Criminally-Minded Approach for Achieving Goals) might interest you.
@ RL, if you go to a Blockbusters in Panama, you might run into Marelisa!
September 8th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Great Post! May I ask permission to translate it (into spanish) with full credit and link?
September 8th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
@ so, yes, please do!
September 8th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Thanks!!! I really enjoyed your post and Im a HUGE fan of scarface
I will let you know when i post it…
best!
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November 10th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
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