I found out long ago that the place where the law is apt to be abused the most is right around a courthouse.

- Jim Thompson

I ain't saying you're a liar, because that wouldn't be polite. But I'll tell you this, ma'am. If I loved liars, I'd hug you to death.

- Jim Thompson

There is only one plot-things are not what they seem.

- Jim Thompson

When life attains a crisis, man’s focus narrows. […] The world becomes a stage of immediate concern, swept free of illusion.

- Jim Thompson

There are things that have to be forgotten if you want to go on living.

- Jim Thompson

I kissed her, a long hard kiss. Because baby didn't know it, but baby was dead, and in a way I couldn't have loved her more.

- Jim Thompson

There are thirty-two ways to write a story, and I’ve used every one, but there is only one plot – things are not as they seem.

- Jim Thompson

It doesn't matter what answers you get if you ask the wrong questions.

- Jim Thompson

We're living in a funny world kid, a peculiar civilization. The police are playing crooks in it, and the crooks are doing police duty. The politician…

- Jim Thompson