I thought tamarinds were made to eat, but that was probably not the idea. I ate several, and it seemed to me that they were rather sour that year. They pursed up my lips, till they resembled the stem-end of a tomato, and I had to take my sustenance through a quill for twenty-four hours. They sharpened my teeth till I could have shaved with them, and gave them a 'wire edge' that I was afraid would stay; but a citizen said 'no, it will come off when the enamel does' - which was comforting, at any rate. I found, afterward, that only strangers eat tamarinds - but they only eat them once.

A friend is someone who stays in when the rest of the world has gone out.

If ever you've been down in the dumps, hear these iconic authors share with you more than their writing wisdom.

You are a coward when you even seem to have backed down from a thing you openly set out to do

It is human to exaggerate the merits of the dead.

A thing long expected takes the form of the unexpected when at last it comes.

Be virtuous and you will be eccentric.