To forgive is wisdom, to forget is genius.

No honest hardworking official likes to see good money disappearing into the hands of the Treasury at the end of the financial year.

The only good government... Is a bad one in a hell of a fright.

A foul-mouthed oaf, a drunken laborer lying in a drain, a beaten wife with blackened eyes and torn clothes, cannot be made romantic to a child who sees how other children suffer from bad-tempered parents, from drunken fathers to termagant mothers.

The truth is that life is hard and dangerous; that he who seeks his own happiness does not find it; that he who is weak must suffer; that he who demands love will be disappointed; that he who is greedy will not be fed; that he who seeks peace will find strife; that truth is only for the brave; that joy is only for him who does not fear to be alone; that life is only for the one who is not afraid to die.

Religion is organized to satisfy and guide the soul -- politics does the same thing for the body.

A novel should be an experience and convey an emotional truth rather than arguments.