He knew the precise psychological moment when to say nothing.

You told me you had destroyed it." "I was wrong. It has destroyed me.

Seriousness is the only refuge of the shallow.

I'm too old to know everything

In the wild struggle for existence, we want to have something that endures, and so we fill our minds with rubbish and facts, in the silly hope of keeping our place.

Society, civilized society at least, is never very ready to believe anything to the detriment of those who are both rich and fascinating. It feels instinctively that manners are of more importance than morals, and, in its opinion, the highest respectability is of much less value than the possession of a good chef.

Mere color, unspoiled by meaning, and unallied with definite form, can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways.