I think the detective story is by far the best upholder of the democratic doctrine in literature. I mean, there couldn't have been detective stories until there were democracies, because the very foundation of the detective story is the thesis that if you're guilty you'll get it in the neck and if you're innocent you can't possibly be harmed. No matter who you are.

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

Chili is one of the great peasant foods. It is one of the few contributions America has made to world cuisine. Eaten with corn bread, sweet onion, sour cream, it contains all five of the elements deemed essential by the sages of the Orient: sweet, sour, salty, pungent, and bitter.

God made you and me, in certain respects, quite unequal, and it would be futile to try any interference with His arrangements.

Hemingway never grew out of adolescence. His scope and depth stayed shallow because he had no idea what women are for.

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

I think the detective story is by far the best upholder of the democratic doctrine in literature. I mean, there couldn't have been detective stories until there were democracies, because the very foundation of the detective story is the thesis that if you're guilty you'll get it in the neck and if you're innocent you can't possibly be harmed. No matter who you are.