[Publius]

Plunkett’s famous quote: “I seen my opportunities, and I took ‘em.”

[AnAmericanMother]

Love his description of the Civil Service Exam - and can't say I disagree.

I think that quote was what he wanted to have on his gravestone - "He seen his opportunities, and he took 'em."

It looks like he doesn't have a headstone (Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Queens) so too bad, we'll never know. As somebody said of that much more obnoxious Jersey City boss, Frank "I Am the Law" Hague, "Once the big guy is gone, he can't do anything for anybody."

[AnAmericanMother]

Found my actual printed copy in the upstairs study, hiding out in the European history section for some reason.

We are both right! At the beginning of Chapter 1, "Honest Graft," he says your version: "I might sum up the whole thing by sayin', 'I seen my opportunities and I took 'em.'"

At the conclusion of the chapter, he recapitulates:

"If my worst enemy had the job of writing my epitaph after I'm gone, he couldn't do more than write:

George W. Plunkett. He Seen His Opportunities, and He Took 'Em."

I love it when EVERYONE is right! (so was Mr. Plunkitt, for that matter! And bless Bill Riordan of the old New York Evening Post for writing it all down!)