We know when we have had enough of a friend, and we know when a friend has had enough of us. The first truth is no more palatable than the second.

The diseases of the present have little in common with the diseases of the past save that we die of them.

Humor brings insight and tolerance.

abroad it is our habit to regard all other travelers in the light of personal and unpardonable grievances. They are intruders into our chosen realms of pleasure, they jar upon our sensibilities, they lessen our meager share of comforts, they are everywhere in our way, they are always an unnecessary feature in the landscape.

There was no escape from the letter-writer who, a hundred or a hundred and twenty-five years ago, captured a coveted correspondent. It would have been as easy to shake off an octopus or a boa-constrictor.

People who pin their faith to a catchword never feel the necessity of understanding anything.

History is not written in the interests of morality.