The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Preface

It was about eleven o’clock in the morning, mid October, with the sun not shining and a look
of hard wet rain in the clearness of the foothills. I was wearing my powder-blue suit, with dark
blue shirt, tie and display handkerchief, black brogues, black wool socks with dark blue clocks on
them. I was neat, clean, shaved and sober, and I didn’t care who knew it.
‘The Big Sleep’ (1939) ch. 1
It was a blonde. A blonde to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained glass window.
‘Farewell, My Lovely’ (1940) ch. 13
A big hard-boiled city with no more personality than a paper cup.
‘The Little Sister’ (1949) ch. 26 (of Los Angeles)
Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor
afraid.
‘Atlantic Monthly’ December 1944 ‘The Simple Art of Murder’
If my books had been any worse, I should not have been invited to Hollywood, and if they had
been any better, I should not have come.
Letter to Charles W. Morton, 12 Dec. 1945, in Dorothy Gardiner and Katherine S. Walker ‘Raymond
Chandler Speaking’ (1962) p. 126
Would you convey my compliments to the purist who reads your proofs and tell him or her that
I write in a sort of broken-down patois which is something like the way a Swiss waiter talks, and
that when I split an infinitive, God damn it, I split it so it will stay split.
Letter to Edward Weeks, 18 January 1947, in F. MacShane ‘Life of Raymond Chandler’ (1976) ch. 7
3.70 Coco Chanel (Gabrielle Bonheur) 1883-1971
Art is ugly things that become beautiful; fashion is beautiful things that become ugly.
3.71 Charlie Chaplin (Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin) 1889-1977
All I need to make a comedy is a park, a policeman and a pretty girl.
‘My Autobiography’ (1964) ch. 10
3.72 Arthur Chapman 1873-1935
Out where the handclasp’s a little stronger,
Out where the smile dwells a little longer,
That’s where the West begins.
‘Out Where the West Begins’ (1916) p. 1
3.73 George Chapman c.1559-c.1634
I know an Englishman,
Being flattered, is a lamb; threatened, a lion.
‘Alphonsus, Emperor of Germany’ (1654) act 1
Who to himself is law, no law doth need, Offends no law, and is a king indeed.
‘Bussy D’Ambois’ (1607-8) act 2, sc. 1