Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) had a lot of things in life. Money, power, success, and a crew that was (mostly) loyal to him. One thing he didn’t have, however, were very many people he could really trust, someone who wasn’t just there to laugh at his jokes and tell him how great he was. That’s where Silvio Dante (Steven Van Zandt) came in. Over the course of The Sopranos (available to stream anytime on HBO Now), Silvio stood quietly behind Tony, offering him words of advice as his consigliere and confidant. Silvio was both reserved and methodical, and though he was capable of an occasional outburst, he saw himself as Tony’s advisor and strategist and helped guide him during his rise to power. While he was (almost) always loyal, he was rarely afraid to be frank with him. The next time you need to be a no-nonsense friend, let these Silvio quotes be your guide.
“A lot of top guys had dark moods. That Winston Churchill drank a quart of brandy before breakfast. Napoleon… he was a moody f*ck, too.”
In The Sopranos’ world, depression is a bad word. When Tony asks Christopher (Michael Imperioli) if he feels depressed, Christopher scoffs at the very idea, equating the condition with being some kind of “mental midget.” Near the end of the first season, Tony becomes increasingly distraught over the whereabouts of Big Pussy (Vincent Pastore). When Christopher floats ‘the d-word’ to Silvio, he, too scoffs at the idea, instead relating it to the kind of moodiness that comes with great figures of authority. Sometimes even no-nonsense friends need to spin something to keep others from looking down at their friend.
“This thing of ours… way it’s goin’… it’d be better if we could admit to each other these painful, stressful times. But it’ll never f*ckin’ happen.”
While both Paulie and Christopher give their individual input after Tony admits that he’s seeing a therapist, it’s Silvio who’s the true voice of reason, lamenting about what would make life in the mafia more tolerable, but he knows better than to hope for it. A good friend will stay a realist even when it would be so much easier to not.
“I usually do sit with my ass. Why don’t you sit with yours?”
Paulie Walnuts (Tony Sirico) was the kind of guy who couldn’t help but talk, and as he and Silvio share a meal at Vesuvio celebrating their victory over Uncle Junior’s crew, the subject of Tony’s therapy inevitably gets brought up. Paulie prods Silvio for his opinion, asking him “how’s that sit with your ass?” Silvio, who’s rarely one to speak ill about Tony, wastes no time putting Paulie in his place, suggesting he simply forget about it. While everyone is inclined to gossip a little, even Silvio, a no-nonsense friend, knows when to keep it from getting out of hand.
“I genuinely don’t think there’s anything to gain by keeping him around.”
When Tony learns that Richie Aprile (David Proval) is looking to make a move against him, the first person he brings it to is Silvio. Even though the outcome here seems obvious, Silvio still takes his time, briefly pacing the room before giving Tony his thoughtful, yet to-the-point analysis. As often as they come up, decisions like these are still life-or-death, and no good will come out of taking something like this lightly. The best kind of friends are the ones that take the time to think these things through.
“Last year I made bail so fast my soup was still warm when I got home.”
For most people, celebrating the Super Bowl means gathering together with friends, indulging on snacks and having a few beers. For the Soprano family, it usually means trying to avoid being arrested on gambling charges. When they come for Silvio, at the funeral of Jackie Jr., (Matt Cerbone) no less, he shrugs the whole thing off, and brags about how quickly the process was resolved for him a year earlier. Is it a power move to show the authorities that he isn’t intimidated? Sure, but it’s also a message to his friends that he’s gonna bounce back in an instant. And you need confidence like that when you’re rolling with Tony Soprano.
“After all your uncle’s done for you? I need to get into specifics?”
Even as Christopher’s forced to go into in hiding while being hunted by Phil Leotardo (Frank Vincent), he just can’t help sticking his foot in his mouth. Silvio, of course, is having none of it, and wastes no time reminding Christopher how lucky he is to still be around at all. When you’ve got to address an attitude, there’s no better approach than Silvio’s: quick, direct, and to-the-point — so much so that you don’t even need the specifics to know what he’s talking about.
“Where’d he get this bread? The bread museum?”
Believe it or not, being that no-nonsense friend doesn’t necessarily have to involve brooding over life-or-death decisions — at least not all the time. Sometimes, you just need to be the one to say what everyone’s thinking about the stale bread at your table, so you may as well have a little fun doing it.
“Seven deadly sins, and yours is pride.”
He may have been passing it off as an excuse at the time, but it’s true what Silvio said about the top guys having dark moods, and no one was more capable of a dark mood than Tony Soprano. As both his longtime consigliere and friend, Silvio was the only one who was really able to address this, and even then he had to tread lightly. Still, watching him address Tony’s problem with authority in a frank but delicate manner is one of his finer moments, and one worth studying should you need to address a problem with a particularly difficult friend in your life.
To put it simply, no one can cut to the chase as directly and delicately as Silvio Dante, and everyone needs a friend like that in their life.