Riposte of "that old lady in the anecdote who was accused by her nieces of being illogical," Logic! Good gracious! What rubbish! How can I tell what I think till I see what I say?

They had nothing in common but the English language.

I don't know what to think until I see what I've said.

By the side of the everlasting Why there is a Yes--a transitory Yes if you like, but a Yes.

Most of life is so dull that there is nothing to be said about it, and the books and talk that would describe it as interesting are obliged to exaggerate, in the hope of justifying their own existence.

The sort of poetry I seek only resides in objects Man can't touch - like England 's grass network of lanes 100 years ago, but today he can destroy them and only Lord Farrer keeps him from doing it.

Letters have to pass two tests before they can be classed as good: they must express the personality both of the writer and of the recipient.