There are some achievements which are never done in the presence of those who hear of them. Catching salmon is one, and working all night is another.

There is no royal road to learning; no short cut to the acquirement of any art.

When a man wants to write a book full of unassailable facts, he always goes to the British Museum.

The habit of writing clearly soon comes to the writer who is a severe critic to himself.

Of course, Lady Arabella could not suckle the young heir herself. Ladies Arabella never can. They are gifted with the powers of being mothers, but not nursing mothers. Nature gives them bosoms for show, but not for use. So Lady Arabella had a wet-nurse.

Till we can become divine, we must be content to be human, lest in our hurry for change we sink to something lower.

He possessed the rare merit of making a property of his time and not a burden.