Most critics write critiques which are by the authors they write critiques about. That would not be so bad, but then most authorswrite works which are by the critics who write critiques about them.

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

To me all men are equal: there are jackasses everywhere, and I have the same contempt for them all.

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.

Someone who can write aphorisms should not fritter away his time in essays.

The sound principle of a topsy-turvy lifestyle in the framework of an upside-down world order has stood every test.

When I read, it is not acted literature; but what I write is written acting.