...every literature, in its main lines, reflects the chief characteristics of the people for whom, and about whom, it is written.

... there are spines to which the immobility of worship is not a strain.

What is one's personality, detached from that of the friends with whom fate happens to have linked one? I cannot think of myself apart from the influence of the two or three greatest friendships of my life, and any account of my own growth must be that of their stimulating and enlightening influence.

When people ask for time, it's always for time to say no. Yes has one more letter in it, but it doesn't take half as long to say.

When a man says he doesn't understand a woman it's because he won't take the trouble.

traditions that have lost their meaning are the hardest of all to destroy.

In the dissolution of sentimental partnerships it is seldom that both associates are able to withdraw their funds at the same time.