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 221ยฝ B Baker Street and didn't find him.
Rex StoutLabels are for the things men make, not for men. The most primitive man is too complex to be labeled.
Rex StoutYou 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.
Rex StoutMillions of American women, and some men, commit that outrage every summer day. They are turning a superb treat into mere provender. Shucked and boiled in water, sweet corn is edible and nutritious; roasted in the husk in the hottest possible oven for forty minutes, shucked at the table, and buttered and salted, nothing else, it is ambrosia. No chefโs ingenuity and imagination have ever created a finer dish. American women should themselves be boiled in water.
Rex Stout