The requisitions of the income tax have added greatly to the attractions of mercenary crime.

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

A character who is thought-out is not born, he or she is contrived. A born character is round, a thought-out character is flat.

Dignities are like faces; no two are the same.

In a world that operates largely at random, coincidences are to be expected, but any one of them must always be mistrusted.

You can't dance cheerfully. Dancing is too important. It can be wild or solemn or gay or lewd or art for art's sake, but it can't be cheerful.

I'm not a collector. I don't keep letters, or books, or souvenirs. But I do keep one copy of each translation of my books into a foreign language. Have you ever seen a murder story printed in Singhalese? Wow!