It had come about ex­act­ly in the way things hap­pened in books.

I, myself, was always recognized . . . as the “slow one” in the family. It was quite true, and I knew it and accepted it. Writing and spelling were always terribly difficult for me. My letters were without originality. I was . . . an extraordinarily bad speller and have remained so until this day.

One never quite allows for the moron in our midst.

a lot of trouble has been caused by memoirs. Indiscreet revelations, that sort of thing. People who have been close as an oyster all their lives seem positively to relish causing trouble when they themselves shall be comfortably dead.

When the sea goes down, there will come from the mainland boats and men. And they will find ten dead bodies and an unsolved problem on Indian Island.

Authors were shy, unsociable creatures, atoning for their lack of social aptitude by inventing their own companions and conversations.

Speech ... is an invention of man's to prevent him from thinking.