Americans, indeed, often seem to be so overwhelmed by their children that they'll do anything for them except stay married to the co-producer.

It has long been my boast that I can read or eat anything. But unfortunately, although I eat like a Hoover, I read so slowly that I am always on the smart book three years after everyone else has finished.

There are some circles in America where it seems to be more socially acceptable to carry a hand-gun than a packet of cigarettes.

In my next life I want to be a pessimist. Then other people could spend all their time cheering me up.

a perfectly managed Christmas correct in every detail is, like basted inside seams and letters answered by return, a sure sign of someone who hasn't enough to do.

People get a bad impression of it [the English climate] by continually trying to treat it as if it was a bank clerk, who ought to be on time on Tuesday next, instead of philosophically seeing it as a painter, who may do anything so long as you don't try to predict what.

The case against censoring anything is absolute: ... nothing that could be censored can be so bad in its effects, in the long run, as censorship itself.