Duty is seldom liked either by the doer or the object ... And why should it be? It is not often of advantage to either.

Most of the pleasure of making a book would go if it held nothing to be shared by other people. I would write for a few dozen people, and sometimes it seems that I do so, but I would not write for no-one.

There is danger in courage. Cowardice is a power for good. We hardly know what it prevents.

We must use words as they are used, or stand aside from life.

I never know why self-sacrifice is noble. Why is it better to sacrifice oneself than someone else?

A plot is like the bones of a person, not interesting like expression, or signs of experience, but the support of the whole.

At a certain point my novels set. They set just as hard as that jam jar. And then I know they are finished.