If you cannot write well, you cannot think well; if you cannot think well, others will do your thinking for you.

Anybody can write a three-volume novel. It merely requires a complete ignorance of both life and literature.

I refuse to have a battle of wits with an unarmed man.

sorrow...is a wound that bleeds when any hand but that of love touches it

If it is not nailed to the floor, it's mine. If I can pry it loose, it is not nailed down.

I feel that if I kept it secret it might grow in my mind (as poisonous things grow in the dark) and take its place with the other terrible thoughts that gnaw me

I never approve, or disapprove, of anything now. It is an absurd attitude to take towards life. We are not sent into the world to air our moral prejudices. I never take any notice of what common people say, and I never interfere with what charming people do. If a personality fascinates me, whatever mode of expression that personality selects is absolutely delightful to me.