The wild hawk to the wind-swept sky The deer to the wholesome wold; And the heart of a man to the heart of a maid, As it was in the days of old.

Beware of overconcern for money, or position, or glory. Someday you will meet a man who cares for none of these things. Then you will know how poor you are.

I keep six honest serving men (they taught me all i knew); Theirs names are What and Why and When And How And Where and Who.

A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition

Of all the liars in the world, sometimes the worst are our own fears.

This is a brief life, but in its brevity it offers us some splendid moments, some meaningful adventures.

If you can keep your wits about you while all others are losing theirs, and blaming you. The world will be yours and everything in it, what's more, you'll be a man, my son.

I am by nature a dealer in words, and words are the most powerful drug known to humanity.

The silliest woman can manage a clever man; but it needs a very clever woman to manage a fool.

There is no sin so great as ignorance. Remember this.

Never look backwards or you'll fall down the stairs.

If Elmore Leonard met Jim Thompson down a dark alley at midnight they might emerge a week later with thick beards, bloodshot eyes and the manuscript for THE BIG O.

The intellectual is different from the ordinary man, but only in certain sections of his personality, and even then not all the time.

It's important to listen to the words of the enemy if you're in war.

Self-respect - The secure feeling that no one, as yet, is suspicious.

I've got my finger in a lot of pies.

I have learned and dismantled all the words in order to draw from them a single word: Home.

A lot of people say you've got all the loving in the world when you walk out on stage. But hell, that applause don't help you any when you're lying in that bed at night being totally ignored

Nobody is qualified to become a statesman who is entirely ignorant of the problem of wheat.

Cleopatra stood at one of the most dangerous intersections in history; that of women and power. Clever women, Euripides had warned hundreds of years earlier, were dangerous.

Ah, genre. A word only a Frenchman could love.