Raymond Chandler

“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...”

“Good critical writing is measured by the perception and evaluation of the subject; bad critical writing by the necessity of maintaining the professional standing of the critic.”

“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.”

“The flood of print has turned reading into a process of gulping rather than savoring.”

“It is not a fragrant world.”

“Woe, woe, woe... in a little while we shall all be dead. Therefore let us behave as though we were dead already.”

“The moment a man sets his thoughts down on paper, however secretly, he is in a sense writing for publication.”

“The challenge of screenwriting is to say much in little and then take half of that little out and still preserve an effect of leisure and natural movement.”

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

“She jerked away from me like a startled fawn might, if I had a startled fawn and it jerked away from me.”

“When in doubt, have a man come through the door with a gun in his hand.”