There is a vast deal of make-believe in the carefully nurtured sentiment for country life, and the barefoot boy, and the mountain girl.

An appreciation of words is so rare that everybody naturally thinks he possesses it, and this universal sentiment results in the misuse of a material whose beauty enriches the loving student beyond the dreams of avarice.

For my part, the good novel of character is the novel I can always pick up; but the good novel of incident is the novel I can never lay down.

It takes time and trouble to persuade ourselves that the things we want to do are the things we ought to do.

the audience is the controlling factor in the actor's life. It is practically infallible, since there is no appeal from its verdict. It is a little like a supreme court composed of irresponsible minors.

There are few nudities so objectionable as the naked truth.

The English possess too many agreeable traits to permit them to be as much disliked as they think and hope they are.