Behind That Curtain quotes
The lines readers remember from Behind That Curtain, by Earl Derr Biggers.
24 quotes · About the book
Standout lines
“I hate all lawyers. They’re always telling you something you’d rather not know.”
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“A lawyer,” he answered.
“I hate all lawyers. They’re always telling you something you’d rather not know.”
“Messing around with other people’s troubles. What a life.”
“Death is the reckoning of heaven,” he remarked. “On this occasion, a most complicated reckoning.”
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Chan nodded. He had been consulting a huge gold watch; now he snapped shut the case and restored it to his pocket.
“Death is the reckoning of heaven,” he remarked. “On this occasion, a most complicated reckoning.”
“Well, what shall we do?” Kirk asked helplessly. “The police, I suppose. But good lord—this is a case beyond any policeman I ever met. Any uniformed man, I mean.” He paused, and a grim smile flashed across his face.
We must bear in mind that a good word has heat enough for three winters, while a hard one wounds like six months of cold.
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“We must treat Paradise with kindly consideration,” Chan suggested. “
We must bear in mind that a good word has heat enough for three winters, while a hard one wounds like six months of cold.
It is going to improve our characters.”
The wise man digs his well before he is thirsty,
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Chan nodded. “
The wise man digs his well before he is thirsty,
” he remarked.
It is always darkest underneath the lamp
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“I feel humble and contrite,” said Chan. “In spite of which, suggestions keep crowding to my tongue. Have you heard old Chinese saying, Captain—‘
It is always darkest underneath the lamp
’?”
The happy man is the calm man.
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“There was no time to procure a velvet couch,” Chan suggested gently. “Compose yourself, I beg.
The happy man is the calm man.
We have only begun to vigil.”
All quotes
Jump to a chapter
- II: What Happened to Eve Durand?
- III: The Bungalow in the Sky
- IV: The Reckoning of Heaven
- VII: Muddy Water
- VIII: Willie Li’s Good Turn
- X: The Letter from London
- XI: The Muddy Water Clears
- XII: A Misty Evening
- XIV: Dinner for Two
- XV: The Discreet Mr. Cuttle
- XVII: The Woman from Peshawar
- XVIII: Flannery’s Big Scene
- XIX: A Vigil in the Dark
II: What Happened to Eve Durand?
“I hate all lawyers. They’re always telling you something you’d rather not know.”
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“A lawyer,” he answered.
“I hate all lawyers. They’re always telling you something you’d rather not know.”
“Messing around with other people’s troubles. What a life.”
“Does the elephant disapprove of the butterfly? And who cares?”
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Chan regarded her blankly.
“Does the elephant disapprove of the butterfly? And who cares?”
“No answer at all,” smiled the girl. “You are returning to Honolulu soon, Mr. Chan?”
“That is the curse of our business, Sergeant,” Sir Frederic replied. “No matter what our record of successes, there must always remain those curtains behind which we long with unlimited yearning to look—and never do.”
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Chan gravely regarded the man from Scotland Yard. “It is not to be amazed at,” he said, “that you have felt such deep interest. Speaking humbly for myself, I desire with unlimited yearning to look behind that curtain of which you speak.”
“That is the curse of our business, Sergeant,” Sir Frederic replied. “No matter what our record of successes, there must always remain those curtains behind which we long with unlimited yearning to look—and never do.”
Barry Kirk paid the check, and they rose from the table. In the lobby, during the course of the goodbyes, the party broke up momentarily into two groups.
III: The Bungalow in the Sky
Sir Frederic Bruce lay on the floor, shot cleanly through the heart.
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Chan stepped around the desk. He was not surprised by what he saw, but he was genuinely sorry.
Sir Frederic Bruce lay on the floor, shot cleanly through the heart.
By his side lay a thin little volume, bound in bright yellow cloth.
IV: The Reckoning of Heaven
“Death is the reckoning of heaven,” he remarked. “On this occasion, a most complicated reckoning.”
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Chan nodded. He had been consulting a huge gold watch; now he snapped shut the case and restored it to his pocket.
“Death is the reckoning of heaven,” he remarked. “On this occasion, a most complicated reckoning.”
“Well, what shall we do?” Kirk asked helplessly. “The police, I suppose. But good lord—this is a case beyond any policeman I ever met. Any uniformed man, I mean.” He paused, and a grim smile flashed across his face.
“The bluest hills are those farthest away,” Chan said.
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“That’s what I say,” put in Barry Kirk. “Surely you can’t go now. Good lord, man, have you no curiosity?”
“The bluest hills are those farthest away,” Chan said.
“Bluest of all is Punchbowl Hill, where my little family is gathered, waiting for me—”
Like a grim, relentless Buddha he disappeared below.
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I have taken same, and I am weary. So very sorry—but I return to Honolulu tomorrow.” The elevator door was open. Chan bowed low. “The happiest pleasure to know you both. May we meet again. Goodbye.”
Like a grim, relentless Buddha he disappeared below.
Kirk and the girl reentered the office, where Captain Flannery was eagerly on the hunt.
VII: Muddy Water
“How loud is the thunder, how little it rains,” he murmured beneath his breath.
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He strode from the room. Chan looked after him without enthusiasm.
“How loud is the thunder, how little it rains,” he murmured beneath his breath.
“We’d better go to the office,” suggested Kirk. “Miss Garland is likely to arrive at any moment.”
VIII: Willie Li’s Good Turn
“When you know, to know that you know, and when you do not know, to know that you do not know—that is true knowledge, as the master said.”
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Chan nodded.
“When you know, to know that you know, and when you do not know, to know that you do not know—that is true knowledge, as the master said.”
He moved his foot, and a spasm of pain spread over his fat face. “A great man, Colonel Beetham. A most remarkable man. Li Gung has been fortunate. With Colonel Beetham he has seen Tibet, Persia—even India.
He was a boy scout, and he had done his good turn for the day.
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Mumbling a goodbye, Chan went out. By the door he passed young Willie Li, who was grinning broadly. The event had come to an unexpected ending, but none the less the lad was happy.
He was a boy scout, and he had done his good turn for the day.
Chan returned to the street, thoroughly upset. Rarely had any of his little deceptions ended so disastrously. His usefulness on the trail of Li Gung was no doubt over for all time. He consigned all boy scouts to limbo with one muttered imprecation.
X: The Letter from London
The ship with too many steersmen never reaches port.
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Chan nodded. “You are wise man.
The ship with too many steersmen never reaches port.
”
XI: The Muddy Water Clears
Mostly when I talk of patience, I am forcing it on others. Speaking for myself in this event, I do not much enjoy the flavor.
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“I know,” shrugged Chan. “I am taking same in plenty large doses.
Mostly when I talk of patience, I am forcing it on others. Speaking for myself in this event, I do not much enjoy the flavor.
”
Can you speak of the ocean to a well frog, or of ice to a summer insect?
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Chan smiled. “
Can you speak of the ocean to a well frog, or of ice to a summer insect?
The good Captain would sneer—until I prove to him I am exceedingly correct. I am praying to do that on Monday.”
XII: A Misty Evening
But might it not happen that beneath his weeping eyes are laughing teeth?
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“He regrets Sir Frederic’s passing.
But might it not happen that beneath his weeping eyes are laughing teeth?
”
XIV: Dinner for Two
We must bear in mind that a good word has heat enough for three winters, while a hard one wounds like six months of cold.
Show the passage
“We must treat Paradise with kindly consideration,” Chan suggested. “
We must bear in mind that a good word has heat enough for three winters, while a hard one wounds like six months of cold.
It is going to improve our characters.”
There was once a man who pinched the baby while rocking the cradle. His work was not regarded a very large success.
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A member of that party—the fact may mean much, or it may mean nothing at all. On chance that it means much, let us say nothing to the Colonel just yet. To do so might defeat our own ends.
There was once a man who pinched the baby while rocking the cradle. His work was not regarded a very large success.
”
XV: The Discreet Mr. Cuttle
Women were not invented for heavy thinking. They should decorate scene, like blossom of the plum.
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“That is good.
Women were not invented for heavy thinking. They should decorate scene, like blossom of the plum.
”
I mean she’s a liar, if I ever met one. A liar, and a poor one.
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“
I mean she’s a liar, if I ever met one. A liar, and a poor one.
I’m going to prove it, too.”
XVII: The Woman from Peshawar
He lies like a gentleman, don’t he?
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Flannery stared after him. “
He lies like a gentleman, don’t he?
” he remarked.
XVIII: Flannery’s Big Scene
You would chop down the tree to catch the blackbird,
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“
You would chop down the tree to catch the blackbird,
” Chan said.
The wise man digs his well before he is thirsty,
Show the passage
Chan nodded. “
The wise man digs his well before he is thirsty,
” he remarked.
XIX: A Vigil in the Dark
It is always darkest underneath the lamp
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“I feel humble and contrite,” said Chan. “In spite of which, suggestions keep crowding to my tongue. Have you heard old Chinese saying, Captain—‘
It is always darkest underneath the lamp
’?”
In time the grass becomes milk.
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“Patience,” Charlie admonished. “As the Chinese say, ‘
In time the grass becomes milk.
’ ”
The happy man is the calm man.
Show the passage
“There was no time to procure a velvet couch,” Chan suggested gently. “Compose yourself, I beg.
The happy man is the calm man.
We have only begun to vigil.”
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