But the nature of the universe is such that ends can never justify means. On the contrary, the means always determine the end.

Science in itself is morally neutral; it becomes good or evil according as it is applied.

I'd rather be myself," he said. "Myself and nasty. Not somebody else, however jolly.

Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the over-compensations for misery.

The thing that impresses me most about this country is its hopefulness. It is this which distinguishes it from Europe, where there is hopeless depression and fear.

Now, a corpse, poor thing, is an untouchable and the process of decay is, of all pieces of bad manners, the vulgarest imaginable. For a corpse is, by definition, a person absolutely devoid of savoir vivre.

And so, resisting the temptation to wallow in artistic remorse, I prefer to leave both well and ill alone and to think about something else