I’m an occasional drinker, the kind of guy who goes out for a beer and wakes up in Singapore with a full beard.

– The King in Yellow

I felt lousy. I felt like an amputated leg.

– Trouble is My Business

It was a blonde. A blonde to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained-glass window.

– Farewell My Lovely

There was a sad fellow over on a bar stool talking to the bartender, who was polishing a glass and listening with that plastic smile people wear when they are trying not to scream.

– The Long Goodbye

I never had a .45. A guy who needs that much gun ought to use a pick.

– Trouble is My Business

Cops are like a doctor who gives you two aspirin for a brain tumor.

– The Long Goodbye

The minutes went by on tiptoe, with their fingers to their lips.

– The Lady in the Lake

There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Ana’s that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands’ necks. Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer in a cocktail lounge.

– Red Wind