I'm not a collector. I don't keep letters, or books, or souvenirs. But I do keep one copy of each translation of my books into a foreign language. Have you ever seen a murder story printed in Singhalese? Wow! Rex Stout More Quotes by Rex Stout More Quotes From Rex Stout The constant petty behests of life permit few opportunities for major satisfactions, and when one is offered it should be seized. Rex Stout permit satisfaction opportunity I cannot agree that mountain climbing is merely one manifestation of man's spiritual aspirations. I think instead it is a hysterical paroxysm of his infantile vanity. Rex Stout spiritual men thinking Everyone has something they don't want anyone to see; that is one of the functions of a home, to provide a spot to keep such things. Rex Stout spots want home Every book takes me from 35 to 41 days to write. I don't know why that is. I've tried to get it down to 30 or 31, depending on the length of the month, but it won't work. I don't drink while I'm writing because it fuddles my logical processes, but when I finish a book I go down to the kitchen and pour myself a big belt. Rex Stout kitchen writing book A schedule broken at will becomes a mere procession of vagaries. Rex Stout mere schedules broken It is always wiser, where there is a choice, to trust inertia. It is the greatest force in the world. Rex Stout force choices world I like to walk around Manhattan, catching glimpses of its wild life, the pigeons and cats and girls. Rex Stout wild-life cat girl No man should tell a lie unless he is shrewd enough to recognize the time for renouncing it, if and when it comes, and knows how to renounce it gracefully. Rex Stout ifs-and men lying You can't dance cheerfully. Dancing is too important. It can be wild or solemn or gay or lewd or art for art's sake, but it can't be cheerful. Rex Stout gay dancing art Chili is one of the great peasant foods. It is one of the few contributions America has made to world cuisine. Eaten with corn bread, sweet onion, sour cream, it contains all five of the elements deemed essential by the sages of the Orient: sweet, sour, salty, pungent, and bitter. Rex Stout essentials sweet america We are all vainer of our luck than of our merits. Rex Stout merit luck As I understand it, a born executive is a guy who, when anything difficult or unexpected happens, yells for somebody to come and help him. Rex Stout unexpected guy helping A man may debar nonsense from his library of reason, but not from the arena of his impulses. Rex Stout library may men I will ride my luck on occasion, but I like to pick the occasion. Rex Stout occasions picks luck Wolfe was drinking beer and looking at pictures of snowflakes in a book someone had sent him from Czechoslovakia... ...Wolfe seemed absorbed in the pictures. Looking at him, I said to myself, "He's in a battle with the elements. He's fighting his way through a raging blizzard, just sitting there comfortably looking at pictures of snowflakes. That's the advantage of being an artist, of having imagination." I said aloud, "You mustn't go to sleep, sir, it's fatal. You freeze to death." The League of Frightened Men Rex Stout drinking sleep book A character who is thought-out is not born, he or she is contrived. A born character is round, a thought-out character is flat. Rex Stout born writing character I have never regarded myself as this or that. I have been too busy being myself to bother about regarding myself. Rex Stout being-myself busy bother Wolfe scowled at her. I could see he was torn with conflicting emotions. A female in his kitchen was an outrage. A woman criticizing his or Fritz's cooking was an insult. But corned beef hash was one of life's toughest problems, never yet solved by anyone. Rex Stout kitchen female cooking If your ego is in good shape you will pretend you're surprised if a National Chairman calls you to tell you his party wants to nominate you for President of the United States, but you're not really surprised. Rex Stout ego party president Labels are for the things men make, not for men. The most primitive man is too complex to be labeled. Rex Stout primitive-man labels men
