In a query seeking literary representation, an aspiring novelist wrote, "My book is a stream of conscience." Like Crime and Punishment, we assume.

The mob boss on the television show Gotham: "A  bird in the hand is nine-tenths of the law."

A would-be author of a cookbook in her query letter: "I also tell readers why spicy foods can reek havoc with their bowels." And too much chocolate can wreck your diet.

A Fox news talking head commenting on tracking down the most wanted terrorist: "It's like looking for a needle in a needle-stack."

Monica Lewinsky, writing for Vanity Fair, praised Norman Mailer's wife, Norris Church, for her "hardy laugh"--probably not a belly laugh, but one from the heart.

Our faithful correspondent, Professor Warren Silver, submitted this one:  "In a recent phone conversation with my sister. she was talking about gathering several medical opinions to address a problem. 'Well, that will just throw another wrench into the pot'."

Carmine Lupertazzi, a mob boss on The Sopranos: "We attack, they react, we retaliate, they respond. How did we get ourselves in this stagmire?"