Listen, Dundy, it's been a long time since I burst into tears because a policeman didn't like me.
Dashiell HammettThe face she made at me was probably meant for a smile. Whatever it was, it beat me. I was afraid she'd do it again, so I surrendered
Dashiell HammettYou're drunk, and I'm drunk, and I'm just exactly drunk enough to tell you anything you want to know. That's the kind of girl I am. If I like a person, I'll tell them anything they want to know. Just ask me. Go ahead, ask me.
Dashiell Hammett...What disturbed him was the discovery that in sensibly ordering his affairs he had got out of step, and not into step, with Life.
Dashiell HammettI found I was repeating myself. It is the beginning of the end when you discover you have style.
Dashiell HammettWhat I try to do is write a story about a detective rather than a detective story. Keeping the reader fooled until the last, possible moment is a good trick and I usually try to play it, but I can't attach more than secondary importance to it. The puzzle isn't so interesting to me as the behavior of the detective attacking it.
Dashiell Hammett