The slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts.

The end was contained in the beginning.

All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome.

All human relationships must be purchased with money.

A thing which I regret, and which I will try to remedy some time, is that I have never in my life planted a walnut. Nobody does plant them nowadays-when you see a walnut it is almost invariably an old tree. If you plant a walnut you are planting it for your grandchildren, and who cares a damn for his grandchildren?

Writing a novel is agony.

One can love a child, perhaps, more deeply than one can love another adult, but it is rash to assume that the child feels any love in return.