He knelt by the bed and bent over her, draining their last moment to its lees; and in the silence there passed between them the word which made all clear.

... even in houses commonly held to be 'booky' one finds, nine times out of ten, not a library but a book-dump.

True originality consists not in a new manner but in a new vision. That new, that personal, vision is attained only by looking long enough at the object represented to make it the writer's own; and the mind which would bring this secret gem to fruition must be able to nourish it with an accumulated wealth of knowledge and experience.

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.

To know when to be generous and when firm—that is wisdom.

I don't believe in God, but I do believe in His saints.

Ah, good conversation - there's nothing like it, is there? The air of ideas is the only air worth breathing.