I am treating you as my friend, asking you to share my present minuses in the hope that I can ask you to share my future plusses.

September is different from all other months. It is more magical. I feel the strange chemical change in the earth which produces mushrooms is the cause, too, of the extra 'life' in the air - a resilience, a sparkle.

Make it a rule of life never to regret and never to look back. Regret is an appalling waste of energy, you can't build on it it's only good for wallowing in.

Who is to decide between 'Let it be' and 'Force it'?

Regret is an appalling waste of energy, and no one who intends to be a writer can afford to indulge in it.

Ah, what happiness it is to be with people who all are happy, to press hands, press cheeks, smile into eyes.

I am going to enjoy life in Paris I know. It is so human and there is something noble in the city... It is a real city, old and fine and life plays in it for everybody to see.