God help England if she had no Scots to think for her.

Men are always thinking that they are going to do something grandly wicked to their enemies; but when it comes to the point, really bad men are just as rare as really good ones.

Defeatism is the wretchedest of policies.

Self-sacrifice enables us to sacrifice other people without blushing.

It is monstrous that custom should force us to display our faces ostentatiously, however worn and wrinkled and mean they may be, whilst carefully concealing all our other parts, however shapely and well preserved.

If associations to control burglary and murder were tolerated we should take it for granted that the members should all be burglers and murderers.

I object to publishers: the one service they have done me is to teach me to do without them. They combine commercial rascality with artistic touchiness and pettishness, without being either good business men or fine judges of literature.