The constant petty behests of life permit few opportunities for major satisfactions, and when one is offered it should be seized.

I have a strong moral sense - by my standards.

To read of a detective's daring finesse or ingenious stratagem is a rare joy.

The brain can be hoodwinked but not the stomach.

One of the hardest things to believe is that anyone will abandon the effort to escape a charge of murder. It is extremely important to suspend disbelief on that. If you don't, the story is spoiled.

No man should tell a lie unless he is shrewd enough to recognize the time for renouncing it, if and when it comes, and knows how to renounce it gracefully.

Sometimes it's things that take the joy out of life, like a blowout when you're hitting sixty or a button coming off of a shirt when you're in a hurry, but usually it's people.