Ross Macdonald

Nothing wrong with Southern California that a rise in the ocean wouldn't cure.

— Ross Macdonald

An ugly woman with a gun is a terrible thing.

— Ross Macdonald

The delicate sensitivity of a frightened rattlesnake.

— Ross Macdonald

They had jerrybuilt the beaches from San Diego to the Golden Gate, bulldozed super-highways through mountains, cut down a thousand year of redwood growth, and built an urban wilderness in the desert. They couldn't touch the ocean. They poured their sewage into it, but it couldn't be tainted.

— Ross Macdonald

You have a secret passion for justice. Why don't you admit it?""I have a secret passion for mercy. But justice is what keeps happening to people.

— Ross Macdonald

Money costs too much.

— Ross Macdonald

I knew how it was with drunks. They ran out of generosity, even for themselves.

— Ross Macdonald

Every witness has his own way of creeping up on the truth.

— Ross Macdonald