Fiction, on the whole, and if it is any good, tends to be a subversive element in society.

memory is so selective; wishful thinking presses it into service all the time.

There is no real escape from autobiography into biography. The self has to be faced, or we die.

Man seems not so much wicked as frail, unable to face pain, trouble and growing old. A good woman knows that nature is her enemy. Look at what it does to her.

Be bold, but not too bold. Have courage, but not too much.

Ambition will, and should, always outstrip achievement.

Letters crossing in the post, unfamiliar tunes heard three times in one day, the way that blows of fate descend upon the same bowed shoulders, and the beams of good fortune glow perpetually upon the blessed. Fairy tales, as I said, are lived out daily. There is far more going on in the world than we ever imagine.