In a free country it is the duty of writers to pay no attention to duty. Only under a dictatorship is literature expected to exhibit an harmonious design or an inspirational tone.

If a man is to be obsessed by something, I suppose a boat is as good as anything, perhaps a bit better than most.

... with men it's rush, rush, rush, every minute. I'm glad I'm a sedentary spider." "What does sedentary mean?" asked Wilbur. "Means I sit still a good part of the time and don't go wandering all over creation. I know a good thing when I see it, and my web is a good thing. I stay put and wait for what comes. Gives me a chance to think.

English usage is sometimes more than mere taste, judgment and education - sometimes it's sheer luck, like getting across the street.

Security, for me, took a tumble not when I read that there were Communists in Hollywood but when I read your editorial in praise of loyalty testing and thought control. If a man is in health, he doesn't need to take anybody else's temperature to know where he is going.

I would really rather feel bad in Maine than feel good anywhere else

Television should be our Lyceum, our Chautauqua, our Minsky's and our Camelot.