James M. Cain quotes

James M. Cain was an American novelist and journalist, renowned for his crime fiction and hardboiled writing style. His works, including “The Postman Always Rings Twice” and “Double Indemnity,” have become classics of American literature and inspired numerous film adaptations. He is remembered as a master of suspenseful, psychologically complex storytelling. Here are 10 of his quotes:

That's all it takes, one drop of fear to curdle love into hate.

James M. Cain

I had killed a man, for money and a woman. I didn't have the money and I didn't have the woman.

James M. Cain

If you have to do it, you can do it.

James M. Cain

I loved her like a rabbit loves a rattlesnake.

James M. Cain

I make no conscious effort to be tough, or hard-boiled, or grim, or any of the things I am usually called.

James M. Cain

You have to wait for your mind to catch up with whatever it is it's working on; then you can write a novel.

James M. Cain

I write of the wish that comes true - for some reason, a terrifying concept.

James M. Cain

Love, when you get fear in it, it's not love any more. It's hate.

James M. Cain

Stealing a man's wife, that's nothing, but stealing his car, that's larceny.

James M. Cain