There is a peculiarity in the countenance, as everybody knows, which, though it cannot be described, is sure to betray the Englishman.

It has been said that idleness is the parent of mischief, which is very true; but mischief itself is merely an attempt to escape from the dreary vacuum of idleness.

Next to the love of God, the love of country is the best preventive of crime.

I am invariably of the politics of the people at whose table I sit, or beneath whose roof I sleep.

A losing trade, I assure you, sir: literature is a drug.

If you must commit suicide ... always contrive to do it as decorously as possible; the decencies, whether of life or of death, should never be lost sight of.

There are no countries in the world less known by the British than those selfsame British Islands.