Louis L’Amour (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The ways of dishonest men were never as clever as they assumed, and the solving of a crime was usually just a painstaking job of establishing motives and putting together odds and ends of information. Criminals suffered from two very serious faults. They believed everybody else was stupid, and the criminal himself was always optimistic as to his chances of success.
The idea that men stole because they were poor or hungry was nonsense. Men and women stole because they wanted more, and wanted it without working for it. They stole to have money to flash around, to spend on liquor, women, or clothes. They stole because they wanted more faster. – Louis L’Amour, the Chick Bowdrie series, A Job For a Ranger
“Nothin’ romantic about bein’ an outlaw, son. Just trouble an’ more trouble. You can’t trust anybody, even the outlaws you ride with. You’re always afraid somebody will recognize you, and you don’t have any real friends, for fear they might turn you in or rob you themselves.
“The trouble with bein’ an outlaw or any kind of criminal is the company you have to keep.” – Louis L’Amour, Chick Bowdrie, Bowdrie Passes Through
Thoughts on the Edge of Forever 