Mike Hammer drinks beer because I can't spell Cognac.

If you're a singer you lose your voice. A baseball player loses his arm. A writer gets more knowledge, and if he's good, the older he gets, the better he writes.

Now I'm not an author, I'm a writer, that's all I am.

The most important part of a story is the ending. No one reads a book to get to the middle.

Inspiration is an empty bank account.

I'm 82 years old, wherever I go everybody knows me, but here's why... I'm a merchandiser, I'm not just a writer, I stay in every avenue you can think of.

I don't like people. I don't like any kind of people. When you get them together in a big lump they all get nasty and dirty and full of trouble. So I don't like people including you. That's what a misanthropist is.