I was going to get myself recognized at any price. If I could not win fame by goodness, I was ready to do it by badness.

The horror of Gandhi's murder lies not in the political motives behind it or in its consequences for Indian policy or for the future of non-violence; the horror lies simply in the fact that any man could look into the face of this extraordinary person and deliberately pull a trigger.

This grossly advertised wonder [Venice], this gold idol with clay feet, this trompe-l'oeil, this painted deception, this cliche-what intelligent iconoclast could fail to experience a destructive impulse in her presence?

Understanding is often a prelude to forgiveness, but they are not the same, and we often forgive what we cannot understand (seeing nothing else to do) and understand what we cannot pardon.

I am for the ones who represent sense, and so was Jane Austen.

Anybody who has ever tried to rectify an injustice or set a record straight comes to feel that he is going mad.

The desire to believe the best of people is a prerequisite for intercourse with strangers; suspicion is reserved for friends.