“MY rule is never to be rude to anyone unless you mean it.”

“You can't base your actions on the theory that anyone you don't keep your eye on is apt to get killed.”

“As long as I live I'll never forget the time he had a bank president pinched, or rather I did, on no evidence whatever except that the fountain pen on his desk was dry. I was never so relieved in my life as when the guy shot himself an hour later.”

“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.”

“I will ride my luck on occasion, but I like to pick the occasion.”

“Women don't require motives that are comprehensible to my intellectual processes.(Nero Wolfe)”

“This is the unluckiest day I've had since my rich uncle changed doctors.”