Hardboiled crime fiction came of age in 'Black Mask' magazine during the Twenties and Thirties. Writers like Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler learnt their craft and developed a distinct literary style and attitude toward the modern world.

and she did what nobody thought of doing .... she consulted Anne

Jane Austen

Whether we and our politicians know it or not, Nature is party to all our deals and decisions, and she has more votes, a longer memory, and a sterner sense of justice than we do.

Wendell Berry

How rare and wonderful is that flash of a moment when we realize we have discovered a friend.

William E. Rothschild

Of the three prerequisites of genius; the first is soul; the second is soul; and the third is soul.

Edwin P. Whipple

Facts or opinions which are to pass through the hands of so many, to be misconceived by folly in one, and ignorance in another, can hardly have much truth left.

Jane Austen

Punctuality is a quality the need of which is bound up with social co-operation. It has nothing to do with the relation of the soul to God, or with mystic insight, or with any of the matters with which the more elevated and spiritual moralists are co

Bertrand Russell

Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns I am thankful that thorns have roses.

Alphonse Karr

Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain.

Lily Tomlin

Pennies do not come from heaven -- they have to be earned here on earth.

Margaret Thatcher

Tennis is more than just a sport. It's an art, like the ballet. Or like a performance in the theater. When I step on the court I feel like Anna Pavlova. Or like Adelina Patti. Or even like Sarah Bernhardt. I see the footlights in front of me. I hear the whisperings of the audience. I feel an icy shudder. Win or die! Now or never! It's the crisis of my life.

Bill Tilden

Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.

Charles R. Swindoll

Everyone has the brainpower to follow the stock market. If you made it through fifth-grade math, you can do it.

Peter Lynch, "Modern Maturity Ma