Chamber music - a conversation between friends.

For your born writer, nothing is so healing as the realization that he has come upon the right word.

I have noted that, barring accidents, artists whose powers wear best and last longest are those who have trained themselves to work under adversity. Great artists treasure their time with a bitter and snarling miserliness.

Great artists treasure their time with a bitter and snarling miserliness.

History is, in its essence, exciting; to present it as dull is, to my mind, stark and unforgivable misrepresentation.

There is a marvelous turn and trick to British arrogance; its apparent unconsciousness makes it twice as effectual.

In early days, I tried not to give librarians any trouble, which was where I made my primary mistake. Librarians like to be given trouble; they exist for it, they are geared to it. For the location of a mislaid volume, an uncatalogued item, your good librarian has a ferret’s nose. Give her a scent and she jumps the leash, her eye bright with battle.