Book

The Maltese Falcon

Selections from one of the greatest essayists of the Graeco-Roman world Plutarch used an encyclopedic knowledge of the Roman Empire to produce a compelling and individual voice. In this superb selection from his writings, he offers personal

(5 total)

Characters

Dashiell Hammett (5)

“It was not, primarily, the injustice of it that disturbed him: he accepted that after the first shock. What disturbed him was the discovery that in sensibly ordering his affairs he had got out of step, and not into step, with life. He said he knew before he had gone twenty feet from the fallen beam…”

— Dashiell Hammett, amazon.com

Tagged: Life

“He had been raised that way. The people he knew were like that. The life he knew was a clean orderly responsible affair. Now a falling beam had shown him that life was fundamentally none of these things. He, the good citizen-husband-father, could be wiped out between office and restaurant by the acc…”

— Dashiell Hammett, amazon.com

Tagged: Life

“I distrust a close-mouthed man. He generally picks the wrong time to talk and says the wrong things. Talking's something you can't do judiciously unless you practice.”

— Dashiell Hammett, amazon.com

Tagged: Life

“I distrust a man that says 'when.' If he's got to be careful not to drink too much it's because he's not trusted when he does.”

— Dashiell Hammett, amazon.com

Tagged: Life

“I do like a man that tells you right out he's looking out for himself. Don't we all? I don't trust a man that says he's nit. And the man that's telling the truth when he says he's not I distrust most of all, because he's an ass and ass that's going contrary to the laws of nature.”

— Dashiell Hammett, amazon.com

Tagged: Life