“Dreamless nights, I knew, can be the most troubling, since you come back not knowing where you've been or what you've done.”

“Growing up is like that, I suppose. The strings fall away and you're left standing on your own.”

“As anybody with two older sisters can tell you, a closed door is like a red rag to a bull. It cannot go unchallenged.”

“I do not encourage early morning chirpiness, even in those whom I know and love. It is generally a sign of a sloppy mind, and is not to be encouraged.”

“You can learn from a glance at anyone's library, not what they are, but what they wish to be.”

“It's amazing what the discovery of a corpse can do for one's spirits.”

“Rene Caron takes my breath away!”

“The truth must be quite plain, if one could just clear away the litter.”

“Yes,' Spade growled. 'And when you're slapped you'll take it and like it.' He released Cairo's wrist and with a thick open hand struck the side of his face three times savagely.”

“Theres no way you can kill someone and get to the other side of the experience unchanged.”

“Why do we electrocute men for murdering an individual and then pin a purple heart on them for mass slaughter of someone arbitrarily labeled enemy?”

“He had also learned that there is no use murdering people; there are always so many left, and if you tried to murder them all you would never get anything else done.”