To get the right word in the right place is a rare achievement. To condense the diffused light of a page of thought into the luminous flash of a single sentence, is worthy to rank as a prize composition just by itself...Anybody can have ideas--the difficulty is to express them without squandering a quire of paper on an idea that ought to be reduced to one glittering paragraph.

The secret of getting ahead is getting started

A person who won't read has no advantage over one who can't read.

I was born modest; not all over, but in spots.

We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is in it - and stop there.

By his father he is English, by his mother he is Americanto my mind the blend which makes the perfect man.

Twenty-four years ago I was strangely handsome; in San Francisco in the rainy season I was often mistaken for fair weather.