Dashiell Hammett
Dashiell Hammett
Samuel Dashiell Hammettwas an American author of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories, screenwriter, and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade, Nick and Nora Charles, and the Continental Op...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth27 May 1894
CitySt Marys County, MD
CountryUnited States of America
brother kids hog
I haven't laughed so much over anything since the hogs ate my kid brother.
men organization differences
When a man's partner is killed he's supposed to do something about it. It doesn't make any difference what you thought of him. He was your partner and you're supposed to do something about it. Then it happens we were in the detective business. Well, when one of your organization gets killed it's bad business to let the killer get away with it. It's bad all around-bad for that one organization, bad for every detective everywhere. Sam Spade
son wells falcon
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. (Kasper Gutman)
talking practice falcon
Talking is something you can't do judiciously unless you keep in practice.
eye hair yellow
Samuel Spade's jaw was long and bony, his chin a jutting v under the more flexible v of his mouth. His nostrils curved back to make another, smaller, v. His yellow-grey eyes were horizontal. The V motif was picked up again by thickish brows rising outward from twin creases above a hooked nose, and his pale brown hair grew down--from high flat temples--in a point on his forehead. He looked rather pleasantly like a blond Satan.
successful luck outcomes
The outcome of successful planning always looks like luck to saps.
agents three trouble
Three times I have been mistaken for a prohibition agent, but never had any trouble clearing myself.
fall might roof
The roof might fall in; anything could happen.
I like women. I really like women.
jail easy
It's awfully easy to be in love in jail
taken san-francisco
Most things in San Francisco can be bought or taken.
sleep thinking thanks
Nick: "Don't you think maybe a drink would help you to sleep?" Nora: "No, thanks." Nick: "Maybe it would if I took one.
lying believe thinking
The people who lie the most are nearly always the clumsiest at it, and they're easier to fool with lies than most people, too. You'd think they'd be on the look-out for lies, but they seem to be the very ones that will believe almost anything at all.
nice love-you smell
Nora said: 'I love you, Nicky, because you smell nice and know such fascinating people.