It was reasonable to struggle, to suffer, perhaps even to die, for a more just, a more compassionate society, but not in a world with no future where, all to soon, the very words "justice," "compassion," "society," "struggle," "evil," would be unheard echoes on an empty air.

What the detective story is about is not murder but the restoration of order.

Perfect love may cast our fear, but fear is remarkably potent in casting out love.

The modern holy trinity is money, sex and celebrity.

Time didn't heal, but it anesthetized. The human mind could only feel so much.

If our sex life were determined by our first youthful experiments, most of the world would be doomed to celibacy. In no area of human experience are human beings more convinced that something better can be had only if they persevere.

Unnatural death always provoked a peculiar unease, an uncomfortable realization that there were still some things that might not be susceptible to bureaucratic control.