I have no choice of living or dying, you see, sir--but I do have a choice of how I do it. If I tell them not to fight, they will be sorry, but they will fight. If I tell them to fight, they will be glad, and I who am not a very brave man will have made them a little braver.

The curious hocus-pocus of criticism I can't take seriously. It consists in squirreling up some odd phrases and then waiting for a book to come running by.

Only mediocrity escapes criticism.

They successfully combined piracy and puritanism, which aren't so unlike when you come right down to it. Both had a strong dislike for opposition and both had a roving eye for other people's property.

Not only do the brave get killed, but the brave have a better chance of it.

If I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an' work, an' no trouble.

Fearful and unprepared, we have assumed lordship over the life or death of the whole world, of all living things.