Let us never accept the point of view that mysteries are written by hacks. The poorest of us shed our blood over every chapter. The best of us start from scratch with every new book.

When I split an infinitive, God damn it, I split it so it stays split.

Down these mean streets a man must go who is neither tarnished nor afraid

He looked about as inconspicuous as a tarantula on a slice of angel food.

Some are able and humane men and some are low-grade individuals with the morals of a goat, the artistic integrity of a slot machine, and the manners of a floorwalker with delusions of grandeur.

It was a blonde. A blonde to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained-glass window.

There are two kinds of truth; The truth that lights the way and the truth that warms the heart. The fist of these is science and the second is art.

It seemed like a nice neighborhood to have bad habits in.

The challenge of screenwriting is to say much in little and then take half of that little out and still preserve an effect of leisure and natural movement

At least half the mystery novels published violate the law that the solution, once revealed, must seem to be inevitable.

Chess is as elaborate a waste of human intelligence as you can find outside an advertising agency.

My dear girl, is it that you are so lonely that you had to create this?

We breathe in, we breathe out. We inhale and exhale the same molecules. We are natural recyclers of the same energy, whether or not we realize it.

Cheers for the sailors that fought on the wave for it Cheers for the soldiers that always were brave for it Tears for the men that went down to the grave for it Here comes the Flag!

I have encouraged my kids to eat well from day one. I add flavor - herbs and spices - to everything because I don't want them getting used to starchy, bland food.

Iran won't pursue nuclear weapons because 'it's contrary to their faith.'

Food is medicine! We have forgotten that!

Alack, this world Is full of change, change, change--nothing but change!

The curse of me and my nation is that we always think things can be bettered by immediate action of some sort, any sort rather than no sort.

Life is nothing but a memory. People who dwell on the bad ones aren't going to have a whole lot of good ones coming up.

Though it sold very well, I hated "The Edge."