snappy dialogue from volumes four and five of Nero Wolfe

[cimorene]

• "You are certainly on solid ground when you say you're not clever. But surely you're not halfwitted."



• Of course there was an off chance that she was a murderess, but you can't have everything.



• "If I had any effrontery I wouldn't bother to bring it here with me, I'd just borrow some." (-Inspector Cramer)



• "Nothing is more admirable than the fortitude with which millionaires tolerate the disadvantages of their wealth."



• a dirt road [...] as narrow as a bigot's mind



• He appeared to be under the influence of a chronic but aristocratic melancholy.



• "I'm not trying to shatter your aplomb, I like it, I think it's attractive, but I'll be damned if I'm going to stand here and beg you all night. In a couple of minutes I'll begin to get impatient."



• 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, The Red Box

• [He] had small gray eyes that looked as if nobody would ever have to irritate him again because he was already irritated for good.



• "True, it is bad to stab a man in the back, but when one is in a hurry the niceties must sometimes be overlooked."



• "I have plenty of forbearance, God knows, but I'm not a complacent target for firearms."



• "Can Mr. Wolfe help it if an attractive young fellow insists on coming to cry on his shoulder?"

—Rex Stout, Too Many Cooks