Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life. - Mark Twain

This parrot is no more. It has ceased to be. It’s expired and gone to meet its maker. This is a late parrot. It’s a stiff. Bereft of life, it rests in peace. If you hadn’t nailed it to the perch, it would be pushing up the daisies. It’s rung down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. This is an ex-parrot. - Graham Chapman

There’s an old rule of theater that goes, “If there’s a gun on the mantle in act one, it must go off in act two.” The reverse is also true. - Steven King

Plots may be simple or complex, but suspense and climactic progress from one incident to another, are essential. - HP Lovecraft