Of habit, the power that keeps the earth from flying to pieces; though there is some silly theory of gravitation.

The true adventurer goes forth aimless and uncalculating to meet and greet unknown fate.

Yes, I get dry spells. Sometimes I can't turn out a thing for three months. When one of those spells comes on I quit trying to work and go out and see something of life. You can't write a story that's got any life in it by sitting at a writing table and thinking. You've got to get out into the streets, into the crowds, talk with people, and feel the rush and throb of real life-that's the stimulant for a story writer.

When a man begins to be hilarious in a sorrowful way you can bet a million that he is dyeing his hair.

A story with a moral appended is like the bill of a mosquito. It bores you, and then injects a stinging drop to irritate your conscience.

You can't appreciate home till you've left it, money till it's spent, your wife till she's joined a woman's club, nor Old Glory till you see it hanging on a broomstick on the shanty of a consul in a foreign town.

A good story is like a bitter pill, with the sugar coating inside of it.