God spare me sclerosis of the curiosity, for the curiosity which craves to keep us informed about the small things no less than the large is the mainspring, the dynamo, the jet propulsion of all complete living.

Nowhere are prejudices more mistaken for truth, passion for reason and invective for documentation than in politics.

The purpose of writing is to hold a mirror to nature, but too much today is written from small mirrors in vanity cases.

Something deathless and dangerous in the world sweeps past you...It is something fearful and ominous, something turbulent and to be dreaded, which distends the drama to include the life of nations as well as of men. It is an ageless warning.

Friendship should be a private pleasure, not a public boast. I loathe those braggarts who are forever trying to invest themselves with importance by calling important people by their first names in or out of print. Such first-naming for effect makes me cringe.

The critic is a man who prefers the indolence of opinion to the trials of action.

Reasoning with a child is fine, if you can reach the child's reason without destroying your own.