If I should certainly say to a novice, 'Write from experience and experience only,' I should feel that this was rather a tantalizing monition if I were not careful immediately to add, 'Try to be one of the people on whom nothing is lost.'

You wanted to look at life for yourself - but you were not allowed; you were punished for your wish. You were ground in the very mill of the conventional.

To read between the lines was easier than to follow the text.

He was there or was not there: not there if I didn't see him.

That accurst autobiographic form which puts a premium on the loose, the improvised, the cheap, and the easy.

Of course what he most intensely dreams of is being taken out on walks, and the more you are able to indulge him the more will he adore you and the more all the latent beauty of his nature will come out.

Always keep a window in the attic open; not just cracked: open.