As one knows the poet by his fine music, so one can recognize the liar by his rich rhythmic utterance, and in neither case will the casual inspiration of the moment suffice. Here, as elsewhere, practice must precede perfection.

I can believe anything provided it is quite incredible.

Find expression for a sorrow, and it will become dear to you. Find expression for a joy, and you will intensify its ecstasy.

I love to talk about nothing. It's the only thing I know anything about.

Society takes upon itself the right to inflict appalling punishment on the individual, but it also has the supreme vice of shallowness, and fails to realize what it has done. When the man's punishment is over, it leaves him to himself; that is to say, it abandons him at the very moment when its highest duty towards him begins.

The only way to behave to a woman is to make love to her if she is pretty, and to someone else if she is plain.

We in the House of Lords are never in touch with public opinion. That makes us a civilised body.