An author values a compliment even when it comes from a source of doubtful competency.

The less there is to justify a traditional custom, the harder it is to get rid of it

How charmed I am when I overhear a German word which I understand!

A jackass has that kind of strength, and puts it to a useful purpose, and is valuable to the world because he is a jackass; but anobleman is not valuable because he is a jackass. It is a mixture that is always ineffectual, and should never have been attempted in the first place. And yet, once you start a mistake, the trouble is done and you never know what is going to come of it.

You may call a jay a bird. Well, so he is, in a measure--because he's got feathers on him, and don't belong to no church, perhaps;but otherwise he is just as much a human as you be. And I'll tell you for why. A jay's gifts and instincts, and feelings, and interests, cover the whole ground. A jay hasn't got any more principle than a Congressman.

Nothing is so ignorant as a man's left hand, except a lady's watch.

Hunger is the handmaid of genius