“The solution to the mystery is always inferior to the mystery itself.”

“Writing a novel is a bit like making a sword. First, you take all the raw material and melt it down in a crucible, then you take it to the anvil and hammer out as many of the impurities as possible before folding and turning the whole thing over on itself and hammering it out again. The more often you can fold it over and incorporate another layer the stronger it will be. Finally, put an edge on it, give it a handle to show to the world, and the job's done. The result should be something flexible and elegant; perfectly balanced, of suitable length and, above all with a point to it.”

“Nice feelings are for people who have money to live as they please. If I had ten thousand a year, or even five, I would snap my fingers at all men, and say, 'No, I make my life as I choose, and shall cultivate knowledge and books, and indulge in beautiful ideas of honor and exalted sentiments, and perhaps one day succumb to a noble passion.”

“The minds of some human beings are as moles, grubbing in the earth for worms. They have no eyes to see God's sky with the stars in it.”

“Romance is the glamour which turns the dust of everyday life into a golden haze. ”

“She looked like green rhubarb juice, and he had the expression of 'Damn!' all over him.”

“Life is precious and all too short. So I laugh, sing and dive into things heads first with the hope that I don't scrape my ass on the bottom. And when I do I break out the bandaids”