Mostly I just kill time," he said, "and it dies hard.
Interpretation
The speaker humorously reflects on the struggle of passing time.
In this quote, Raymond Chandler expresses a playful yet profound observation about the nature of time and existence. The phrase 'killing time' suggests that people often engage in aimless activities to distract themselves from boredom or the passage of time, while 'it dies hard' indicates that time itself can be resistant to distraction, emphasizing the persistent and sometimes challenging nature of waiting or idleness.
In practice
Sharing this quote during a discussion about how we often find ourselves wasting time while waiting.
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.
Organized crime is the dirty side of the sharp dollar.
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.
He's so full of alcohol, if you put a lighted wick in his mouth he'd burn for three days.
Trying to hit Sandy Koufax was like trying to drink coffee with a fork.
People are generally amazed that I would take an interest in any forum that would require me to stop talking for three hours.
Let there be dancing in the streets, drinking in the saloons, and necking in the parlor.
And when we take ourselves too seriously, we are grim about the brothers and sisters, especially the dissenting ones, and there will be no health in us and no healing humor.
Comedy has to be based on truth. You take the truth and you put a little curlicue at the end.
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