All of us have to be prevaricators, hypocrites, and liars every day of our lives; otherwise the social structure would fall into pieces the first day. We must act in one another's presence just as we must wear clothes. It is for the best
O. HenryIn dress, habits, manners, provincialism, routine and narrowness, he acquired that charming insolence, that irritating completeness, that sophisticated crassness, that overbalanced poise that makes the Manhattan gentleman so delightfully small in its greatness.
O. HenryIt gives men courage and ambition and the nerve for anything. It has the colour of gold, is clear as a glass and shines after dark as if the sunshine were still in it.
O. Henry[A]ll of life, as we know it, moves in little, unavailing circles. More justly than to anything else, it can be likened to the game of baseball. Crack! we hit the ball, and away we go. If we earn a run (in life we call it success) we get back to the home plate and sit upon a bench. If we are thrown out, we walk back to the home plate -- and sit upon a bench.
O. HenryO all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.
O. HenryWhenever he saw a dollar in another man's hands he took it as a personal grudge, if he couldn't take it any other way.
O. HenryShe plucked from my lapel the invisible strand of lint (the universal act of woman to proclaim ownership).
O. HenryIn the Big City a man will disappear with the suddenness and completeness of the flame of a candle that is blown out.
O. HenryFortune is a prize to be won. Adventure is the road to it. Chance is what may lurk in the shadows at the roadside.
O. Henry