The shock, for an intelligent writer, of discovering for the first time that there are people younger than himself who think him stupid is severe.

No education is worth having that does not teach the lesson of concentration on a task, however unattractive. These lessons, if not learnt early, will be learnt, if at all, with pain and grief in later life.

The books I haven't written are better than the books other people have.

Green leaves on a dead tree is our epitaph-green leaves, dear reader, on a dead tree.

There is no pain equal to that which two lovers can inflict on one another.

When I write after dark the shades of evening scatter their purple through my prose.

A woman's desire for revenge outlasts all her other emotions.