You can't tell a doper well under control from a vegetarian book-keeper.

He looked about as inconspicuous as a tarantula on a slice of angel food.

Under the thinning fog the surf curled and creamed, almost without sound, like a thought trying to form inself on the edge of consciousness.

Organized crime is the dirty side of the sharp dollar.

The test of a writer is whether you want to read him again years after he should by the rules be dated.

The best way to find out if you have any friends is to go broke. The ones that hang on longest are your friends. I don't mean the ones that hang on forever. There aren't any of those.

Some days I feel like playing it smooth. Some days I feel like playing it like a waffle iron.