Some great men owe most of their greatness to the ability of detecting in those they destine for their tools… — Joseph Conrad

For it is my belief no man ever understands quite his own artful dodges to escape from the grim shadow of self-knowledge.

The real significance of crime is in its being a breach of faith with the community of mankind.

It's extraordinary how we go through life with eyes half shut, with dull ears, with dormant thoughts. Perhaps it's just as well; and it may be that it is this very dullness that makes life to the incalculable majority so supportable and so welcome. Nevertheless, there can be but few of us who had never known one of these rare moments of awakening when we see, hear, understand ever so much — everything — in a flash — before we fall back again into our agreeable somnolence.