Suffering is none the less acute and much more lasting when it is put into words.

There is practically no sense that is not violated every time we return from the country or the sea to Paris or London or New York.

Of the many smells of Athens two seem to me the most characteristic - that of garlic, bold and deadly like acetylene gas. and that of dust, soft and warm and caressing like tweed.

Wine is a bride who brings a great dowry to the man who woos her persistently and gracefully.

What is youth except a man or a woman before it is ready or fit to be seen.

To see Stephen Spender fumbling with our rich and delicate language is to experience all the horror of seeing a Sevres vase in the hands of a chimpanzee.

Conversation should be like juggling; up go the balls and plates, up and over, in and out, good solid objects that glitter in the footlights and fall with a bang if you miss them.