My parents were neither very poor nor conspicuously honest.

It is not best that we should all think alike; it is a difference of opinion that makes horse races.

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear-not absence of fear. Except a creature be part coward it is not a compliment to say it is brave; it is merely a loose application of the word. Consider the flea! - incomparably the bravest of all the creatures of God, if ignorance of fear were courage.

The reason why truth is so much stranger than fiction is that there is no requirement for it to be consistent.

Well enough for old folks to rise early, because they have done so many mean things all their lives they can't sleep anyhow.

The kingly office is entitled to no respect. It was originally procured by the highwayman's methods. It remains a perpetuated crime, can never be anything but the symbol of a crime. It is no more entitled to respect than is the flag of a pirate.

I like a thin book because it will Steady a Table, a leather volume because it will Strop a Razor, and a heavy book because it can be Thrown at a Cat.