The world likes humor, but it treats it patronizingly. It decorates its serious artists with laurel, and its wags with Brussels sprouts.

Although there is no substitute for merit in writing, clarity comes closest to being one.

Why did you do all this for me?' he asked. 'I don't deserve it. I've never done anything for you.' 'You have been my friend,' replied Charlotte. 'That in itself is a tremendous thing.

A library is many things, but particularly it is a place where books live, and where you can get in touch with other people, and other thoughts, through books... Books hold most of the secrets of the world, most of the thoughts that men and women have had.

Why is it, do you suppose, that an Englishman is unhappy until he has explained America?

Life's accumulation is more discouraging than life itself, when stirred up.

Writing is not an exercise in excision, it's a journey into sound.