I like the Americans for a great many reasons. I like them because even the modern thing called industrialism has not entirely destroyed in them the very ancient thing called democracy. I like them because they have a respect for work which really curbs the human tendency to snobbishness.

Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity.

If we are bound to improve, we need not trouble to improve. The pure doctrine of progress is the best of all reasons for not being a progressive.

The great saint may be said to mix all his thoughts with thanks. All goods look better when they look like gifts.

Modern toleration is really a tyranny. It is a tyranny because it is a silence.

Men invent new ideals because they dare not attempt old ideals. They look forward with enthusiasm, because they are afraid to look back.

There is a great deal of difference between an eager man who wants to read a book and the tired man who wants a book to read.