Conventionality is not morality.

If he were insane, however, his was a very cool and collected insanity.

If life be a war, it seemed my destiny to conduct it single-handed.

I like the spirit of this great London which I feel around me. Who but a coward would pass his whole life in hamlets; and for ever abandon his faculties to the eating rust of obscurity?

I can be on guard against my enemies, but God deliver me from my friends!

A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow.

A reader kindly pointed out to me recently that most of the quotes I include are by men. And it's true. Personally, I don't even consider whether the author is male or female, nor even care much who the author is - what's significant is the message. Of course, women are equally capable of great insights, however in our culture it's not so long ago that women could not even be published