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.

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.

I'd far rather leave a thought behind me than a child. Other people can have children.

So, two cheers for Democracy: one because it admits variety and two because it permits criticism.

The more highly public life is organized the lower does its morality sink.

The only books that influence us are those for which we are ready, and which have gone a little farther down our particular path than we have yet got ourselves.

Chess is a forcing house where the fruits of character can ripen more fully than in life