when I am alone in the forest I always say my prayers; and that occasional solitary communion with God is surely the only true religion for intelligent beings.

the curse of human nature is imagination. When a long anticipated moment comes, we always find it pitched a note too low, for the wings of imagination are crushed into its withering sides under the crowding hordes of petty realities.

Better extirpate the whole breed, root and branch. And this, unless the German people come to their senses, is what we propose to do.

The human mind has an infinite capacity for self-deception.

Never trust a woman who will not lie about her age after thirty. She is unwomanly and unhuman and there is no knowing what crimes she will commit.

New York has always prided itself on its bad manners. That is the real source of our strength.

there is no greater fraud or bore than the writer who has acquired the art of saying nothing brilliantly.