How does it come about that what an intelligent man expresses is much stupider than what remains inside him?

I may be mistaken but it seems to me that a man may be judged by his laugh, and that if at first encounter you like the laugh of a person completely unknown to you, you may say with assurance that he is good.

You see I kept asking myself then: why am I so stupid that if others are stupid—and I know they are—yet I won't be wiser?

Grown-up people do not know that a child can give exceedingly good advice even in the most difficult case.

... what you need more than anything in life is a definite position.

Psychology lures even most serious people into romancing, and quite unconsciously.

. . . finally, I couldn't imagine how I could live without books, and I stopped dreaming about marrying that Chinese prince. . . .