S. S. Van Dine quotes

Giving full rein to one‘s cynicism as one goes along produces a normal outlet and maintains an emotional equilibrium. (S. S. Van Dine)
Only, as long as we‘re going insane we may as well go the whole way. A mere shred of sanity is of no value. View quote
S. S. Van Dine
I trust the clergy are not involved in this problem. They‘re notoriously unscientific. One can‘t attack them with mathematics. View quote
S. S. Van Dine
Good God!” he mummered. "I don‘t know what to believe.” "In that respect,” returned Vance, "you‘re in the same disheartenin‘ predic‘ment as all the philosophers. View quote
S. S. Van Dine
Oh, my dear fellow! I'm not indulgin' in implications. I'm merely givin' tongue to my youthful curiosity, don't y' know. View quote
S. S. Van Dine
Anyway, you know full well I never wear boutonnieres. The decoration has fallen into disrepute. The only remaining devotees of the practice are roués and saxophone players. View quote
S. S. Van Dine
Circumstantial evidence, Markham, is the utt‘rest tommyrot imag‘nable. Its theory is not unlike that of our present-day democracy. The democratic theory is that if you accumulate enough ignorance at the polls, you produce intelligence; and the theory of circumst‘ntial evidence is that if you accumulate a sufficient number of weak links, you produce a strong chain. View quote
S. S. Van Dine
He spent considerable time at his clubs; his favorite was the Stuyvesant, because, as he explained to me, its membership was drawn largely from the political and commercial ranks, and he was never drawn into a discussion which required any mental effort. View quote
S. S. Van Dine
You're probably right,” sighed Vance. "I haven't any coruscatin' arguments to combat you with. Only, I'm disappointed. I don't like anticlimaxes, especially when they don't jibe with my idea of the dramatist's talent. Pardee's death at this moment is too deuced neat-it clears things up too tidily. There's too much utility in it, and too little imagination. View quote
S. S. Van Dine
A fairy tale in terms of blood-a world in anamorphosis-a perversion of all rationality.... It's unthinkable, senseless, like black magic and sorcery and thaumaturgy. It's downright demented. View quote
S. S. Van Dine
As I understand it, your policemen are chosen by their height and weight; they must meet certain requirements as to heft-as thought the only crimes they had to cope with were riots and gang feuds. Bulk-the great American ideal, whether in art, architecture, table d‘hôte meals, or detectives. An entrancin‘ notion. (S. S. Van Dine)
Do you play chess, by the by?” asked Vance. "Used to. But no more. A beautiful game, though-if it wasn't for the players. View quote
S. S. Van Dine
There simply must be a corpse in a detective novel, and the deader the corpse the better. View quote
S. S. Van Dine
There are few punishments too severe for a popular novel writer. View quote
S. S. Van Dine
A detective novel should contain no long descriptive passages, no literary dallying with side-issues, no subtly worked-out character analyses, no 'atmospheric' preoccupations. Such matters have no vital place in a record of crime and deduction. They hold up the action and introduce issues irrelevant to the main purpose, which is to state a problem, analyze it, and bring it to a successful conclusion. To be sure, there must be a sufficient descriptiveness and character delineation to give the novel verisimilitude. View quote
S. S. Van Dine