Humphrey Bogart played a perfect Marlowe on film.

As a wisecrack connoisseur, I savor reading Marlowe’s take on any situation, in descriptions and in conversation. He can be brutal, merciless, hilarious, insightful. Brilliant. Like all cynics, he’s protecting a romantic core.

I like to think that his creator, Raymond Chandler, had a lot in common with Marlowe. Sometimes I read bits of Chandler bio – cautiously. This is one time I want to maintain illusions.

I’ve been looking for example quotes but I can’t decide on any.  I single one out and it excludes some other that you also must need see. Instead, here is what Marlowe’s creator wrote in his essay “The Simple Art of Murder”: