The hell of it, Miss- Is your name Wonderly or Leblanc?'…

It's sometimes better to pretend I don't hear the sound of somebody in the nearby woods with a shotgun.

— Dashiell Hammett

“This damned burg's getting me. If I don't get away soon I'll be going blood-simple like the natives.”

— Dashiell Hammett

“You know Quinn?" Macaulay asked me. "Ten minutes ago I was putting him to bed." Macaulay grinned. "I hope you keep his acquaintance like…

— Dashiell Hammett

“Gutman smiled benignly at him and said: “Well, Wilmer, I’m sorry indeed to lose you, and I want you to know that I couldn’t…

— Dashiell Hammett

“...I guess I can put two and two together." "Sometimes the answer's four," I said, "and sometimes it's twenty-two...”

— Dashiell Hammett

Nora: "How do you feel?" Nick: "Terrible. I must've gone to bed sober.

— Dashiell Hammett

A lot of fancier yarns come from people trying to tell the truth. It’s not easy once you’re out of the habit.

— Dashiell Hammett

Three times I have been mistaken for a prohibition agent, but never had any trouble clearing myself.

— Dashiell Hammett

Listen, Dundy, it's been a long time since I burst into tears because a policeman didn't like me.

— Dashiell Hammett

“...What do people think about my staying with Harrison with him chasing everything that's hot and hollow?”

— Dashiell Hammett

“Don't be so damned patronizing. Your performance so far has been a little less than dazzling." "I didn't mean no harm," I said and…

— Dashiell Hammett

...What disturbed him was the discovery that in sensibly ordering his affairs he had got out of step, and not into step, with Life.

— Dashiell Hammett

I haven't any sort of plans for the future but I reckon things will work out in some manner.

— Dashiell Hammett

To get what he wanted, a man had to give other people what they wanted.

— Dashiell Hammett

He felt like somebody had taken the lid off life and let him see the works.

— Dashiell Hammett