The problem with putting two and two together is that sometimes you get four, and sometimes you get twenty-two.

I don t mind a reasonable amount of trouble.

I've been as bad an influence on American literature as anyone I can think of.

Joel Cairo: You always have a very smooth explanation ready. Sam Spade: What do you want me to do, learn to stutter?

Listen, darling, tomorrow I'll buy you a whole lot of detective stories, but don't worry your pretty little head over mysteries tonight.

I couldn't be fonder of you if you were my own son. But, well, if you lose a son, its possible to get another. There's only one Maltese Falcon.

My way of learning is to heave a wild and unpredictable monkey-wrench into the machinery.

Feed the lettuce to the bunny and eat the bunny.

I once knew a man who stole a Ferris Wheel.

The cheaper the crook, the gaudier the patter.

You got to look on the bright side, even if there ain't one.

God’s grace is strong enough to hold me steady through every difficulty.

The biggest mistake you can ever make it to compare yourself to others. - Gideon

I call the discourse of power any discourse that engenders blame, hence guilt, in its recipient.

Now I'm able to align my work and creative life with who I am.

Desire of power, on earth a vicious weed, Yet, sprung from high, is of celestial seed: In God 'tisglory; and when men aspire, 'Tis but a spark too much of heavenly fire.

Adrenalin dispels boredom. Run, you sufferers from ennui! Run for your lives!

Anything dark and emotionally complex, I'll do it. You're acting, but when you take an acting role, you have to live it. You're living the life of that person.

A priest encounters temptation every day, and some of that desire is very natural.

The truth is this: I am a Southern Baptist, and the great majority of Southern Baptists are lost.

I got sort of disinterested in working for the system.