raymond chandler

“ Dames lie about anything - just for practice. ”

“ It was about eleven o'clock in the morning, mid October, with the sun not shining and a look of hard wet rain in the clearness of the foothills. ”

“ The French have a phrase for it... To say goodbye is to die a little. ”

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

“ The soft wet heat was like a pall around us. ”

“ Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid. He is the hero; he is everything. He must be a complete man and a common man and yet an unusual man. He must be, to use a rather weathered phrase, a man of honor ”

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

“ Mr. Lindsay Marriotts face looked as if he had swallowed a bee. ”

“ Such a lot of guns around town and so few brains. ”

“ From 30 feet away she looked like a lot of class. From 10 feet away she looked like something made up to be seen from 30 feet away. ”