Willie Sutton did not rob banks “because that’s where the money is.”

He never said that–he credits it to “some enterprising reporter who apparently felt a need to fill out his copy.”

Why did he rob banks? “Because I enjoyed it. I loved it. I was more alive when I was inside a bank, robbing it, than at any other time in my life. I enjoyed everything about it so much that one or two weeks later I’d be out looking for the next job. But to me the money was the chips, that’s all.”

In any case, Sutton certainly knew what he was doing. Between the late 1920s and his final arrest in 1952, he robbed 100 banks of $2 million.

He would bring a gun, but he prided himself on never using it. “You can’t rob a bank on charm and personality,” he said.