I never came across anyone in whom the moral sense was dominant who was not heartless, cruel, vindictive, log-stupid, and entirely lacking in the smallest sense of humanity. Moral people, as they are termed, are simple beasts.

She knew nothing, but she had everything that he had lost.

No publisher should ever express an opinion of the value of what he publishes. That is a matter entirely for the literary critic to decide.

My desire to live is as intense as ever, and though my heart is broken, hearts are made to be broken: that is why God sends sorrow into the world.

Spontaneity is a meticulously prepared art

A man's very highest moment is, I have no doubt at all, when he kneels in the dust, and beats his breast, and tells all the sins of his life.

I am not in favour of this modern mania for turning bad people into good people at a moment's notice.