The modern sympathy with invalids is morbid. Illness of any kind is hardly a thing to be encouraged in others.

I don't like novels that end happily. They depress me so much

Some things are more precious because they don't last long.

One should always be a little improbable.

Life has been your art. You have set yourself to music. Your days are your sonnets.

Agitators are a set of interfering, meddling people, who come down to some perfectly contented class of the community and sow the seeds of discontent amongst them. That is the reason why agitators are so absolutely necessary. Without them, in our incomplete state, there would be no advance towards civilization.

Palermo was lovely. The most beautifully situated town in the world - it dreams away its life in the Conca d'Oro, the exquisite valley that lies between two seas. The lemon groves and the orange gardens were entirely perfect.