“Afraid? I can dodge folly without backing into fear.”

“Mrs. Rachel Bruner: [trying to goad Wolfe] I thought you were afraid of nobody and nothing.Nero Wolfe: [unruffled] I can dodge folly without backing into fear.”

“...if he had married Mrs. Albert Grantham for her money I freely admit that no man marries without a reason and with her it would have been next to impossible to think up another one....”

“She turned back to me, graceful as a big cat, straight and proud, not quite smiling, her warm dark eyes as curious as if she had never seen a man before. I knew damn well I ought to say something, but what? The only thing to say was “Will you marry me?” but that wouldn’t do because the idea of her washing dishes or darning socks was preposterous.”

“Fritz was standing there, four feet back from the door to the office, which was standing open, staring wide-eyed at me. When he saw I was looking at him he beckoned me to come, and the thought popped into my mind that, with guests present and Wolfe making an oration, that was precisely how Fritz would act if the house was on fire.”

“You can't dance cheerfully. Dancing is too important. It can be wild or solemn or gay or lewd or art for art's sake, but it can't be cheerful.”

“I try to know what I need to know. I make sure to know what I want to know.(Nero Wolfe)”