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.
Opinions, from experts, cost money.
In a world that operates largely at random, coincidences are to be expected, but any one of them must always be mistrusted.
The Glass Key is better than anything Hemingway ever wrote
As between the intolerable and the merely distasteful, I must choose the latter.
Wolfe scowled at her. I could see he was torn with conflicting emotions. A female in his kitchen was an outrage. A woman criticizing his or Fritz's cooking was an insult. But corned beef hash was one of life's toughest problems, never yet solved by anyone.