Ben Hecht

I know that a man who shows me his wealth is like the beggar who shows me his poverty; they are both looking for alms from me, the rich man for the alms of my envy, the poor man for the alms of my guilt.

There's only one law you gotta follow to keep outta trouble. Do it first, do it yourself, and keep on doin' it.

People's sex habits are as well known in Hollywood as their political opinions, and much less criticized.

Producers are men who will keep their heads in the noisy presence of writers and directors and not be carried away by art in any of its subversive guises. Their task is to guard against the unusual. They are the trusted loyalists of cliche.

A man nearly always loves for other reasons than he thinks. A lover is apt to be as full of secrets from himself as is the object of his love from him.

Love is a hole in the heart.

Love is the magician that pulls man out of his own hat.

In pre-movie days, the business of peddling lies about life was spotty and unorganized. It was carried on by the cheaper magazines, dime novels, the hinterland preachers and whooping politicians.

I have written a raucous valentine to a poet's dream and agony.

Out of the thousand writers huffing and puffing through movieland, there are scarcely fifty men and women of wit and talent... Yet, in a curious way, there is not much difference between the product of a good writer and a bad one. They both have to toe the same mark.

In moderating, not satisfying desires, lies peace.

What better is there to sigh for than happiness, yesterday's or tomorrow's.