I have seen an entire family lifted out of poverty and into affluence by the simple boon of a broken leg. I have had people come to me on crutches, with tears in their eyes, to bless this beneficient institution. In all my experiences of life, I have seen nothing so seraphic as the look that comes into a freshly mutilated man's face when he feels in his vest pocket with his remaining hand and finds his accident ticket all right.

I like Joan of Arc best of all my books; and it is the best; I know it perfectly well.

A person who has a cat by the tail knows a whole lot more about cats than someone who has just read about them.

Make your vocation your vacation. That is the secret to success.

I never write Metropolis for seven cents because I can get the same price for city. I never write policeman because I can get the same money for cop.

Delicacy - a sad, sad false delicacy - robs literature of the two best things among its belongings: Family-circle narratives & obscene stories.

I felt it was my duty to praise all of God's works with fervent enthusiasm. At the same time I killed flies in my house in a spirit of hatred, exasperation and contempt. My praise to God for all his works was dishonest, the act of killing the fly was honest.