A good writer does not receive anywhere near the number of poison-pen letters that is commonly assumed. Among a hundred jackassesthere are not ten who will admit to being jackasses, and at most one who will put it in writing.

I have decided many a stylistic problem first by my head, then by heads or tails.

An artist should make concessions to the listener. That is why Bruckner dedicated one of his symphonies to the Good Lord.

Nowadays the thief cannot be distinguished from his victim. Neither has any valuable objects on him.

A snob is unreliable. The work he praises might just be good.

The discovery of the North Pole is one of those realities which could not be avoided. It is the wages which human perseverance pays itself when it thinks that something is taking too long. The world needed a discoverer of the North Pole, and in all areas of social activity, merit was less important here than opportunity.

Matrimony is the union of meanness and martyrdom.