A writer should tend to lift people up, not lower them down.

"Have you ever found anything that gives you relief?" "Yes. A drink."

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

We stand or fall by television.

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

You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you. After all, what's a life, anyway? We're born, we live a little while, we die. A spider's life can't help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone's life can stand a little of that.

I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority.