People to whom sin is just a matter of words, to them salvation is just words too.

I never promise a woman anything nor let her know what I'm going to give her. That's the only way to manage them. Always keep them guessing. If you cant think of any other way to surprise them, give them a bust in the jaw.

This does not matter. This is not anything yet. It all depends on what you do with it, afterward.

It's all now you see: tomorrow began yesterday and yesterday won't be over until tomorrow.

The necessity of the idea creates its own style. The material itself dictates how it should be written.

Most men are a little better than their circumstances give them a chance to be.

I had learned a little about writing from Soldier's Pay - how to approach language, words: not with seriousness so much as an essayist does, but with a kind of alert respect, as you approach dynamite; even with joy, as you approach women: perhaps with the same secretly unscrupulous intentions.