"'Okay Marlowe,' I said to myself. 'You're a tough guy. You've been sapped twice, choked, beaten silly with a gun, sho…"

"[about his gun] That's just part of my clothes. I hardly ever shoot anybody with it."

"Now this is beginning to make sense, in a screwy sort of a way. I get dragged in and get money shoved at me. I get pu…"

"He was doubled up on his face in that bag-of-old-clothes position that always means the same thing: he had been kille…"

"Skip the water. Make that one with scotch. It'll save time."

"I don't know what you talked him into. Was it murder or something serious?"

"You shouldn't kiss a girl when you're wearing that gun... leaves a bruise."

"Lt. Randall: You're not a detective, you're a slot machine. You'd slit your own throat for 6 bits plus tax."

"Haunted by a lovely face... hunted for another's crime!"

"I caught the blackjack right behind my ear. A black pool opened up at my feet. I dived in. It had no bottom. I felt p…"