Conceit is the finest armour a man can wear.

It is a most extraordinary thing, but I never read a patent medicine advertisement without being impelled to the conclusion that I am suffering from the particular disease therein dealt with in its most virulent form.

Life works upon a compensating balance, and the happiness we gain in one direction we lose in another.

I should never make anything of a fisherman. I had not got sufficient imagination

If there is one person I do despise more than another, it is the man who does not think exactly the same on all topics as I do.

I can't sit still and see another man slaving and working. I want to get up and superintend, and walk round with my hands in my pockets, and tell him what to do. It is my energetic nature. I can't help it.

Idling has always been my strong point.