Mickey Spillane Quotes & Sayings

The first chapter sells the book; the last chapter sells the next book. — Mickey Spillane

I started off at the high level, in the slick magazines, but they didn't use my name, they used house names. Anyway, then I went downhill to the pulps, then downhill further to the comics. — Mickey Spillane

Where I am they can smell out a hurricane. My house survived Hurricane Hazel, but it didn't get past Hugo. — Mickey Spillane

Authors want their names down in history; I want to keep the smoke coming out of the chimney. — Mickey Spillane

Hemingway hated me. I sold 200 million books, and he didn't. Of course most of mine sold for 25 cents, but still ... you look at all this stuff with a grain of salt. — Mickey Spillane

I know an awful lot of Hollywood people, who are so self-important, I can't understand it. — Mickey Spillane

Critics themselves, they used to tear me up. — Mickey Spillane

I dont like any of them, because they don't read the books. In Kiss Me Deadly my story is better than his story. Anthony Quinn played in The Lond Wait and he didn't read the book either. — Mickey Spillane

My father was Catholic, my mother was Protestant, and because of that I got Christened in both churches, so I've got all these names ... but my Dad always called me Mick. — Mickey Spillane

Inspiration is an empty bank account. — Mickey Spillane

No one likes my books except the public. — Mickey Spillane

I'm actually a softie. Tough guys get killed too early ... I've got a full head of hair and don't wear eyeglasses. — Mickey Spillane

I'm a commercial writer, not an author. Margaret Mitchell was an author. She wrote one book. — Mickey Spillane

I'm the most translated writer in the world, behind Lenin, Tolstoy, Gorki and Jules Verne. And they're all dead ... — Mickey Spillane

Victor Saville was bad news because he wanted money just to do one big picture. — Mickey Spillane

I wrote the original Mike Hammer as a comic, Mike Danger. — Mickey Spillane

If the public likes you, you're good. Shakespeare was a common, down-to-earth writer in his day. — Mickey Spillane

Those big-shot writers could never dig the fact that there are more salted peanuts consumed than caviar. — Mickey Spillane

Imagine this guy hits Mike Hammer over the head with a wooden coathanger and knocks him out. You hit Mike Hammer over the head with a wooden coathanger, he'll beat the crap out of you. — Mickey Spillane

If you're a singer you lose your voice. A baseball player loses his arm. A writer gets more knowledge, and if he's good, the older he gets, the better he writes. — Mickey Spillane

The first page sells this book. The last page sells your next book. — Mickey Spillane

It was easy,' I said. — Mickey Spillane

Now I'm not an author, I'm a writer, that's all I am. — Mickey Spillane

I'm a country boy. I hate New York. But that's where things happen, so I use it as a base for stories, I know enough about it. But I have to keep going back there. — Mickey Spillane

Stephen King. Now I'm not crazy about him, but he's a great a writer. — Mickey Spillane

I read all the time ... I read a lot of history books. — Mickey Spillane

If the public likes you, you're good. — Mickey Spillane

Mike Hammer drinks beer because I can't spell Cognac. — Mickey Spillane

I'm 82 years old, wherever I go everybody knows me, but here's why ... I'm a merchandiser, I'm not just a writer, I stay in every avenue you can think of. — Mickey Spillane

I played in a movie called Ring of Fear with Clyde Beatty and Pat O'Brien. — Mickey Spillane

See, heroes never die. John Wayne isn't dead, Elvis isn't dead. Otherwise you don't have a hero. You can't kill a hero. That's why I never let him get older. — Mickey Spillane

I have no fans. You know what I got? Customers. And customers are your friends. — Mickey Spillane

Oh yeah, I was one of the first guys writing comic books, I wrote Captain America, with guys like Stan Lee, who became famous later on with Marvel Comics. — Mickey Spillane

I don't like people. I don't like any kind of people. When you get them together in a big lump they all get nasty and dirty and full of trouble. So I don't like people including you. That's what a misanthropist is. — Mickey Spillane

I try to stay in good physical shape, I don't smoke, I don't drink. — Mickey Spillane

Nobody reads a book to get to the middle. — Mickey Spillane

Guys like you can't escape the city. Hell, you a got a blood contract with this place. You're married to the old girl. — Mickey Spillane