Incongruity is the mainspring of laughter.
A man's work is rather the needful supplement to himself than the outcome of it.
All fantasy should have a solid base in reality.
No Roman ever was able to say, 'I dined last night with the Borgias'.
Great men are but life-sized. Most of them, indeed, are rather short.
Men of genius are not quick judges of character. Deep thinking and high imagining blunt that trivial instinct by which you and I size people up.