Bargaining is essential to the life of the world; but nobody has ever claimed that it is an ennobling process.

A puppy is but a dog, plus high spirits, and minus common sense.

Our dogs will love and admire the meanest of us, and feed our colossal vanity with their uncritical homage.

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

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

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.

Just as we are often moved to merriment for no other reason than that the occasion calls for seriousness, so we are correspondingly serious when invited too freely to be amused.