The Frenchman works until he can play. The American works until he can’t play; and then thanks the devil, his master, that he is donkey enough to die in harness. But the Englishman, as he has since become, works until he can pretend that he never worked at all.

A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.

Men always talk about the most important things to perfect strangers.

The things we see every day are the things we never see at all.

humor can get in under the door while seriousness is still fumbling at the handle

When you have really exhausted an experience you always reverence and love it.

Such professions as the soldier and the lawyer ... give ample opportunity for crimes but not much for mere illusions. ... If you have lost a battle you cannot believe you have won it; if your client is hanged you cannot pretend that you have gotten him off.