Raymond Chandler

“An age which is incapable of poetry is incapable of any kind of literature except the cleverness of a decadence.”

“Everything a writer learns about the art or craft of fiction takes just a little away from his need or desire to write at all. In the end he knows all the tricks and has nothing to say.”

“The minute you try to talk business with him he takes the attitude that he is a gentleman and a scholar, and the moment you try to approach him on the level of his moral integrity he starts to talk business.”

“He looked about as inconspicuous as a tarantula on a slice of angel food.”

“Chess is as elaborate a waste of human intelligence as you can find outside an advertising agency.”

“Chess is the most elaborate waste of human intelligence outside of an advertising agency.”

“Alcohol is like love. The first kiss is magic, the second is intimate, the third is routine. After that you take the girl's clothes off.”

“Most critical writing is drivel and half of it is dishonest. It is a short cut to oblivion, anyway. Thinking in terms of ideas destroys the power to think in terms of emotions and sensations.”

“She gave me a smile I could feel in my hip pocket.”

“It is not a fragrant world.”

“Television is just one more facet of that considerable segment of our society that never had any standard but the soft buck.”