To make a precise scientific description of reality out of words is like trying to build a rigid structure out of pure quicksilver.

To foment grievance and to set men at variance is the trade by which agitators thrive and journalists make money.

If it were not for the war, this war would suit me down to the ground.

[N]othing about a book is so unmistakable and so irreplaceable as the stamp of the cultured mind. I don't care what the story is about or what may be the momentary craze for books that appear to have been hammered out by the village blacksmith in a state of intoxication; the minute you get the easy touch of the real craftsman with centuries of civilisation behind him, you get literature.

A human being must have occupation if he or she is not to become a nuisance to the world.

Why? Oh, well - I thought you'd be rather an attractive person to marry. That's all. I mean, I sort of took a fancy to you. I can't tell you why. There's no rule about it, you know.

Wherever you find a great man, you will find a great mother or a great wife standing behind him -- or so they used to say. It would be interesting to know how many great women have had great fathers and husbands behind them.