Why do so many ingenious theorists give fresh reasons every year for the decline of letter writing, and why do they assume, in derision of suffering humanity, that it has declined? They lament the lack of leisure, the lack of sentiment ... They talk of telegrams, and telephones, and postal cards, as if any discovery of science, any device of civilization, could eradicate from the human heart that passion for self-expression which is the impelling force of letters.

A kitten is chiefly remarkable for rushing about like mad at nothing whatever and generally stopping before it gets there.

The party which is out sees nothing but graft and incapacity in the party which is in; and the party which is in sees nothing but greed and animosity in the party which is out.

The gayety of life, like the beauty and the moral worth of life, is a saving grace, which to ignore is folly, and to destroy is crime. There is no more than we need; there is barely enough to go round.

A world of vested interests is not a world which welcomes the disruptive force of candor.

Letter-writing on the part of a busy man or woman is the quintessence of generosity.

It is difficult to admonish Frenchmen. Their habit of mind is unfavorable to preachment.