Every war, when it comes, or before it comes, is represented not as a war but as an act of self-defense against a homicidal maniac.

All true tea lovers not only like their tea strong, but like it a little stronger with each year that passes.

One of the effects of a safe and civilized life is an immense over sensitiveness which makes all the primary emotions somewhat disgusting.

As soon as you think of fishing you think of things that don't belong to the modern world. The very idea of sitting all day under a willow tree beside a quiet pool - and being able to find a quiet pool to sit beside- belongs to a time before the war, before radio, before aeroplanes, before Hitler.

Free speech is my right to say what you don't want to hear.

The enemy of the moment always represented absolute evil, and it followed that any past or future agreement with him was impossible.

It is deliberate policy to keep even the favoured groups somewhere near the brink of hardship, because a general state of scarcity increases the importance of small privileges and thus magnifies the distinction between one group and another.