Quotes from Rex Stout

The corner the light doesn't reach is the one the dime rolled to.

What?' Cramer's eyes widened. 'Where the hell does Shepherd come in?' 'I don't know. Archie doesn't like him, and I have learned that it is always quite possible that anyone he doesn't like may be a murderer.

The evening traffic was out playing tag, and it took long enough to get to West Thirty-fifth Street.

Courtesy is one's own affair, but decency is a debt to life.

a born executive is a guy who, when anything difficult or unexpected happens, yells for somebody to come and help him.

Must I again remind you, Archie, of the reaction you would have got if you had asked Velasquez to explain why Aesop's hand was resting inside his robe instead of hanging by his side? Must I again demonstrate that while it is permissible to request the scientist to lead you back over his footprints, a similar request of the artist is nonsense, since he, like the lark or the eagle, has made none? Do you need to be told again that I am an artist?

The more you put in a brain, the more it will hold—if you have one.

It was a large cardboard letter-file, old and faded but intact. I passed it to Wolfe, and he opened it with the deliberate and friendly exactness which his hands displayed towards all inanimate things.

he does not admit this, but no man is so poor that he cannot afford a what if...

The least offensive way of refusing a request is not to let it be made.

But when you're there, there you are, and

We had emerged from under the river and were gathering speed as we clattered through the Jersey yards. Wolfe shouted, "An engine has two thousand three hundred and nine moving parts!" I put down the magazine and grinned at him, thinking I might as well. He had enginephobia and there was no sense in letting him brood, because it would only make it worse for both of us.

When he was taking his coat off I had to stand back so as not to get socked in the eye with his arms swinging around, and I don't cotton to a guy with that sort of an attitude towards his fellowmen in confined spaces. Particularly I think they ought to be kept out of elevators, but I'm not fond of them anywhere.

Archie.' 'Yes, sir.' 'Do I ever intrude in your private affairs?' 'Yes, sir. Frequently. But you think you don't, so go right ahead.

I said it is vainglorious to reproach yourself for lack of omniscience. That is also true of omnipotence. Report in as you can.

What are you, a scientist, or an artist?" Wolfe was frowning at him. "If you please, Mr. Jarrett, no labels. Labels are for the things men make, not for men. The most primitive man is too complex to be labeled.

Telephone calls were to be handled by me, since he knew nothing that I didn't know. (This jarred my aplomb, since it was the first time he had ever admitted it.)

She gave me a little smile, the dimples coming, and said, 'We don't really know ourselves, do we?' 'It depends,' I said. 'Some of us know too much, and some not enough.

She's capable of anything, and she's as deft as a bear's tongue.

Old Time is never discreet or tactful.

You are so engrossed in the fact that you are oblivious to its environment

Detecting can be fun, but it can be a pain not only in the neck but also in the head, the guts, the back, the legs, the feet, and the ass. And often is. It was that time.

Nothing is quite so uncomfortable as a loose conscience.

pessimist gets nothing but pleasant surprises, an optimist nothing but unpleasant.