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Sit here, now, and look. The water, the surf, the colors on the shore. You think they make the beauty of the tropical sea, aye, lad? They do not. 'Tis the knowledge of what lurks below the surface of it, that awful-looking thing, as you call it, that carries death with every move that it makes. So it is, so it is with all beauty. So it is with Mexico. I hope you never forget it.

— James M. Cain Serenade (1938)

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More quotes by James M. Cain

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

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934)

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

Double Indemnity (1936)

He might be asleep, but even asleep he looked like he knew more than most guys awake.

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934)

A receptionist is a lazy dame that can’t do anything on earth, and wants to sit out front where everybody can watch her do it.

Mildred Pierce (1941)

I loved her like a rabbit loves a rattlesnake.

Double Indemnity (1936)

All James M. Cain quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: James M. Cain (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.