A Dickens character to me is a theatrical projection of a character. Not that it isn't real. It's real, but in that removed sense. But Sherlock Holmes is simply there. I would be astonished if I went to 221½ B Baker Street and didn't find him.

I understand the technique of eccentricity; it would be futile for a man to labor at establishing a reputation for oddity if he were ready at the slightest provocation to revert to normal action.

I like to walk around Manhattan, catching glimpses of its wild life, the pigeons and cats and girls.

If I'm home with no chore at hand, and a package of books has come, the television set and the chess board and the unanswered mail will have to manage without me if one of the books is a detective story.

Everyone has something they don't want anyone to see; that is one of the functions of a home, to provide a spot to keep such things.

I will ride my luck on occasion, but I like to pick the occasion.

Everything in a story should be credible.