Organized crime is the dirty side of the sharp dollar.
Interpretation
Organized crime represents the unethical and often violent methods used to achieve financial gain.
In this quote, Raymond Chandler highlights the connection between organized crime and the pursuit of wealth, suggesting that such illegal activities are a corrupt and morally questionable side of capitalism. The phrase 'dirty side of the sharp dollar' implies that while wealth can be sharp and enticing, it often comes at a costβa cost represented by crime and its associated violence and corruption.
In practice
In a discussion about the effects of organized crime on society during a community meeting.
Undoubtedly the stories about them [hard-boiled detectives] had a fantastic element. Such things happened, but not so rapidly, nor to so close-knit a group of people, nor within so narrow a frame of logic. This was inevitable because the demand was for constant action; if you stopped to think you were lost. When in doubt, have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand.
There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge.
When in doubt, have a man come through the door with a gun in his hand.
The flood of print has turned reading into a process of gulping rather than savoring.
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.
We have the whitest kitchens and the most shining bathrooms in the world. But in the lovely white kitchen the average [person] canβt produce a meal fit to eat, and the lovely shining bathroom is mostly a receptacle for deodorants, laxatives, sleeping pills, and the products of that confidence racket called the cosmetic industry. We make the finest packages in the world, Mr Marlowe. The stuff inside is mostly junk." β
I constantly remind people that crime isn't solved by technology; it's solved by people.
Free speech has been used by the Supreme Court to give immense power to the wealthiest members of our society.
I fully realize that no wealth or position can long endure, unless built upon truth and justice, therefore, I will engage in no transaction which does not benefit all whom it affects.
If we find ourselves increasing beyond example in numbers, in strength, in wealth, in knowledge, in everything which promotes human and social happiness, let us ever remember our dependence for all these on the protection and merciful dispensations of Divine Providence.
The opposite of poverty is not wealth. I don't believe that. I actually think, in too many places, the opposite of poverty is justice.
I asked certain rich men if they felt embittered. 'How could we not?' they said. So I asked them what caused this anguish. They blamed their wealth.
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