The beautiful, passionate, ruined South, the land of magnolias and music, of roses and romance . . . living on the memory of crushing defeats

All charming people, I fancy, are spoiled. It is the secret of their attraction.

Be warned in time, James, and remain, as I do, incomprehensible: to be great is to be misunderstood.

The heart was made to be broken.

The quivering, ardent sunlight showed him the lines of cruelty round the mouth as clearly as if he had been looking into a mirror after he had done some dreadful thing.

The aim of the liar is simply to charm, to delight, to give pleasure. He is the very basis of civilized society.

Pessimist: One who, when he has the choice of two evils, chooses both.