Only as we mature does affection begin to depend on achievement.

Endeavoring to purchase something we think beautiful may in fact be the most unimaginative way of dealing with the longing it excites in us, just as trying to sleep with someone may be the bluntest response to a feeling of love.

I passionately believe that's it's not just what you say that counts, it's also how you say it - that the success of your argument critically depends on your manner of presenting it.

Kant and Hegel are interesting thinkers. But I am happy to insist that they are also terrible writers.

There may be significant things to learn about people by looking at what annoys them most.

The most unbearable thing about many successful people is not - as we flatteringly think - how lazy they are, but how hard they work.

Wealth is not an absolute. It is relative to desire. Every time we yearn for something we cannot afford, we grow poorer, whatever our resources. And every time we feel satisfied with what we have, we can be counted as rich, however little we may actually possess.