The objection to a Communist always resolves itself into the fact that he is not a gentleman.

The only time you have a free press is when you own one.

Our literature, despite several false starts that promised much, is chiefly remarkable, now as always, for its respectable mediocrity.

All of the great patriots now engaged in edging and squirming their way toward the Presidency of the Republic run true to form. That is to say, they are all extremely wary, and all more or less palpable frauds. What they want, primarily, is the job; the necessary equipment of unescapable issues, immutable principles and soaring ideals can wait until it becomes more certain which way the mob will be whooping.

Christian endeavor is notoriously hard on female pulchritude.

The essence of self-fulfillment and autonomous culture is an unshakable egotism.

I am never much interested in the effects of what I write....I seldom read with any attention the reviews of my...books. Two times out of three I know something about the reviewer, and in very few cases have I any respect for his judgments. Thus his praise, if he praises me, leaves me unmoved. I can't recall any review that has even influenced me in the slightest. I live in sort of a vacuum, and I suspect that most other writers do, too. It is hard to imagine one of the great ones paying any serious attention to contemporary opinion.