Real progress is progress in charity, all other advances being secondary thereto.

The thin and precarious crust of decency is all that separates any civilization, however impressive, from the hell of anarchy or systematic tyranny which lie in wait beneath the surface .

There is no substitute for talent. Industry and all its virtues are of no avail.

...we were back at home, and I had returned to that reassuring but profoundly unsatisfactory state known as 'being in one's right mind.

Europe is so well gardened that it resembles a work of art, a scientific theory, a neat metaphysical system. Man has re-created Europe in his own image.

Henri IV's feet and armpits enjoyed an international reputation.

Writers write to influence their readers, their preachers, their auditors, but always, at bottom, to be more themselves.