So you see, when war comes to one’s village, one’s doorstep, it isn’t tragic and impersonal any longer. It is just an excuse to vomit private hatred. That is why I am not a great patriot.

no person will ever get into my blood as a place can ... People and things pass away, but not places.

I could not ask forgiveness for something I had not done. As scapegoat, I could only bear the fault.

How pleasant,' Dona said, peeling her fruit; 'the rest of us can only run away from time to time, and however much we pretend to be free, we know it is only for a little while - our hands and our feet are tied.

there's something about Paris that gives you a mental slap all the time, and you can't just sit still and do nothing. You've got to work, to keep up with the pace, the sting in the atmosphere.

If there’s one thing that makes a man sick, it’s to have his ale poured out of an ugly hand.

You had to endure something yourself before it touched you.