If a man is dumb, someone is going to get the best of him, so why not you? If you don't, you're as dumb as he is.

Arnold was skilled at mathematics was well-read and was being groomed to take over the legitimate business of his father. According to the crime writer Leo Katcher Rothstein "transformed organized crime from a thuggish activity by hoodlums into a big business run like a corporation with himself at the top. "

Another version has Rothstein turning down the proposal relayed by Attell; this was the second "fix" he'd refused to bankroll.

" According to Rich Cohen Rothstein was the person who first realized that Prohibition was a business opportunity a means to enormous wealth who "understood the truths of early century capitalism (hypocrisy exclusion greed) and came to dominate them. Rothstein was widely reputed to have organized corruption in professional athletics most notoriously conspiring in the fixing of the 1919 World Series. " His notoriety inspired several fictional characters based on his life portrayed in contemporary and later short stories novels musicals and films.