I am aware that I am very old now; but I am also aware that I have never been so young as I am now, in spirit, since I was fourteen and entertained Jim Wolf with the wasps. I am only able to perceive that I am old by a mental process; I am altogether unable to feel old in spirit. It is a pity, too, for my lapses from gravity must surely often be a reproach to me. When I am in the company of very young people I always feel that I am one of them, and they probably privately resent it.

We had an abundance of mangoes, papaias and bananas here, but the pride of the islands, the most delicious fruit known to men, cherimoya, was not in season. It has a soft pulp, like a pawpaw, and is eaten with a spoon.

One gains at least two to three times more experience grabbing the tiger by the tail than reading about it in a book.

The writing begins when you’ve finished. Only then do you know what you’re trying to say.

It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.

You can't no more teach what you ain't learned than you can come from where you ain't been.

You can't reason someone out of something that they weren't reasoned into in the first place.