A writer should concern himself with whatever absorbs his fancy, stirs his heart, and unlimbers his typewriter. ... A writer has the duty to be good, not lousy: true, not false; lively, not dull; accurate, not full of error. He should tend to lift people up, not lower them down.

When I get sick of what men do, I have only to walk a few steps in another direction to see what spiders do. Or what the weather does. This sustains me very well indeed.

It is at a fair that man can be drunk forever on liquor, love, or fights; at a fair that your front pocket can be picked by a trotting horse looking for sugar, and your hind pocket by a thief looking for his fortune.

To perceive Christmas through its wrappings becomes more difficult with every year.

I believe... that security declines as security machinery expands.

Necessity first mothered invention. Now invention has little ones of her own, and they look just like grandma.

A schoolchild should be taught grammar—for the same reason that a medical student should study anatomy.