Yet birth, and lust, and illness, and death are changeless things, and when one of these harsh facts springs out upon a man at some sudden turn of the path of life, it dashes off for the moment his mask of civilization and gives a glimpse of the stranger and stronger face below.

As a rule, the more bizarre a thing is, the less mysterious it proves to be.

The unexpected has happened so continually in my life that it has ceased to deserve the name.

Sir Walter, with his 61 years of life, although he never wrote a novel until he was over 40, had, fortunately for the world, a longer working career than most of his brethren.

Never trust to general impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details.

I consider that a man's brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose.

My uncle, Mr. Stephen Maple, had been at the same time the most successful and the least respectable of our family, so that we hardly knew whether to take credit for his wealth or to feel ashamed of his position.