It is the function of the novelist to reveal the hidden life at its source: to tell us more about Queen Victoria than could be known, and thus to produce a character who is not the Queen Victoria of history.

Long books, when read, are usually overpraised, because the reader wishes to convince others and himself that he has not wasted his time.

Towns are after all excrescences, grey fluxions, where men, hurrying to find one another, have lost themselves.

Sometimes I think too much fuss is made about marriage. Century after century of carnal embracement and we're still no nearer to understanding one another.

Paganism is infectious, more infectious than diphtheria or piety.

Be soft, even if you stand to get squashed.

Tolerance is a very dull virtue. It is boring. Unlike love, it has always had a bad press. It is negative. It merely means putting up with people, being able to stand things.