I hate a stupid man who can't talk to me, and I hate a clever man who talks me down. I don’t like a man who is too lazy to make any effort to shine; but I particularly dislike the man who is always striving for effect. I abominate a humble man, but yet I love to perceive that a man acknowledges the superiority of my sex, and youth and all that kind of thing. . . A man who would tell me that I am pretty, unless he is over seventy, ought to be kicked out of the room. But a man who can't show me that he thinks me so without saying a word about it, is a lout.

For there is no folly so great as keeping one's sorrows hidden.

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.

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

Nobody holds a good opinion of a man who has a low opinion of himself.

The Church of England is the only church in the world that interferes neither with your politics nor your religion

Romance is very pretty in novels, but the romance of a life is always a melancholy matter. They are most happy who have no story to tell.