I have said that each aspect of the novel demands a different quality of the reader. Well, the prophetic aspect demands two qualities: humility and the suspension of the sense of humour.

The most successful career must show a waste of strength that might have removed mountains, and the most unsuccessful is not that of the man who is taken unprepared, but of him who has prepared and is never taken.

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.

My conviction gains infinitely the moment another soul will believe in it.

As her time in Florence drew to a close she was only at ease amongst those to whom she felt indifferent.

Don't believe those lies about intellectual people. They're only written to soothe the majority.

I believe in teaching people to be individuals, and to understand other individuals.