Creed and opinion change with time, and their symbols perish; but Literature and its temples are sacred to all creeds and inviolate.

There is only one good sex. The female one.

There is only one expert who is qualified to examine the souls and the life of a people and make a valuable report - the native novelist. ... And when a thousand able novels have been written, there you have the soul of the people; and not anywhere else can these be had.

Human beings seem to be a poor invention. If they are the noblest works of God where is the ignoblest?

If you shamefully misuse a cat once she will always maintain a dignified reserve toward you afterward. You will never get her full confidence again.

Compliments make me vain: & when I am vain, I am insolent & overbearing. It is a pity, too, because I love compliments. I love them even when they are not so. My child, I can live on a good compliment two weeks with nothing else to eat.

To someone with a hammer, everything looks like a nail.