Listen, darling, tomorrow I'll buy you a whole lot of detective stories, but don't worry your pretty little head over mysteries tonight.

I don t mind a reasonable amount of trouble.

I've been as bad an influence on American literature as anyone I can think of.

The problem with putting two and two together is that sometimes you get four, and sometimes you get twenty-two.

Joel Cairo: You always have a very smooth explanation ready. Sam Spade: What do you want me to do, learn to stutter?

I couldn't be fonder of you if you were my own son. But, well, if you lose a son, its possible to get another. There's only one Maltese Falcon.

My way of learning is to heave a wild and unpredictable monkey-wrench into the machinery.

Feed the lettuce to the bunny and eat the bunny.

I once knew a man who stole a Ferris Wheel.

The cheaper the crook, the gaudier the patter.

You got to look on the bright side, even if there ain't one.

A dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest.

People give pain, are callous and insensitive, empty and cruel...but place heals the hurt, soothes the outrage, fills the terrible vacuum that these human beings make.

Whenever she felt at home, there always seemed to be love floating about on the edges of things.

Audiences = expectations. If he thinks you're not watching, he won't need to rebel against your expectations.

I'm not different. I'm not different at all. The wrapping is different but the gift is still the same.

When I finally make up my mind that I want to do something, it's never been hard for me to do.

How can you stay so calm?" It helps if you're terrified.

Imagine what Ivanka Trump life has been like? She's been eaten alive by the media. I have empathy for that.

The question of naturalism is a fallacy, it does not exist... The photographic image replaces naturalistic experience.

A toothache will cost a battle, a drizzle cancel an insurrection.