It is not funny that a man should be killed, but it is sometimes funny that he should be killed for so little, and that his death should be the coin of what we call civilization.

A city with all the personality of a paper cup. (On Los Angeles)

At least half the mystery novels published violate the law that the solution, once revealed, must seem to be inevitable.

Technique alone is never enough. You have to have passion. Technique alone is just an embroidered potholder.

I like bars just after they open in the evening. When the air inside is still cool and clean and everything is shiny. The first quiet drink of the evening in a quiet bar -- that's wonderful.

He snorted and hit me in the solar plexus. I bent over and took hold of the room with both hands and spun it. When I had it nicely spinning I gave it a full swing and hit myself on the back of the head with the floor.

I think a man ought to get drunk at least twice a year just on principle, so he won't let himself get snotty about it.