" Besides, I've noticed that only a thin line divides the insane from the rest of the population.

I was reminded of how a cat will freeze on a fence with one paw drawn up, to see if you are friend or foe.

To turn me ladylike might have rendered me useless and possibly ornamental. Then I would not be able to fend for myself.

The public does not mind being cheated, but they like it to be convincing.

The truth is too much for some people and too little for others.

In this life you take what people are willing to give. No more. No less.

New York is a place where everybody has their hands out for your money.

In a savage world we have to cling to whatever small pleasures and niceties we can devise.

I could have done better and I might have done worse. But that's true of life in general.

It's a strange thing about the public. They'll believe anything written on a sign. And they'll see exactly what they expect to see. No more. No less. "

― Richard Peck , Ghosts I Have Been (Blossom Culp, #2)