An enormous amount of modern ingenuity is expended on finding defences for the indefensible conduct of the powerful. As I have said above, these defences generally exhibit themselves most emphatically in the form of appeals to physical science. And of all the forms in which science, or pseudo-science, has come to the rescue of the rich and stupid, there is none so singular as the singular invention of the theory of races.

But there is in everything a reasonable division of labour. I have written the book, and nothing on earth would induce me to read it.

At the back of our brains is a blaze of astonishment at our own existence. The object of the artistic and spiritual life is to dig for this sunrise of wonder.

Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity.

Properly speaking, of course, there is no such thing as a return to nature, because there is no such thing as a departure from it. The phrase reminds one of the slightly intoxicated gentleman who gets up in his own dining room and declares firmly that he must be getting home.

When people begin to ignore human dignity, it will not be long before they begin to ignore human rights.

There is nothing the matter with Americans except their ideals. The real American is all right; it is the ideal American who is all wrong.