Samuel Butler

Fear is static that prevents me from hearing myself.

In law, nothing is certain but the expense.

To give pain is the tyranny; to make happy, the true empire of beauty.

The chief lesson I have learned in a long life is that the only way you can make a man trustworthy is to trust him; and the surest way to make him untrustworthy is to distrust him.

You don't work on something for six years and be blind to the myriad of other approaches.

Most detective story readers are an educated audience and know there are only a certain number of plots. The interest lies in what the writer does with them.