The delicate sensitivity of a frightened rattlesnake.

As a man gets older, if he knows what is good for him,, the women he likes are getting older too. The trouble is that most of them are married.

I like a little danger. Tame danger, controlled by me. It gives me a sense of power, I guess, to take my life in my hands and know damn well I’m not going to lose it.

I have a secret passion for mercy. . . but justice is what keeps happening to people.

When there's trouble in a family, it tends to show up in the weakest member. And all the other members of the family know that. They make allowances for the one in trouble.

The surprise with which a detective novel concludes should set up tragic vibrations which run backward through the entire structure.

We're all in the game. We all drive cars, and we're all hooked on oil. The question is how we can get unhooked before we drown in the stuff.