Reforms in Russia are very tragic, but they always end in a farce.

There is only one real tragedy in a woman's life. The fact that her past is always her lover, and her future invariably her husband.

I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance. Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone. The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever. If it did, it would prove a serious danger to the upper classes, and probably lead to acts of violence in Grosvenor Square.

Self-denial is the shining sore on the leprous body of Christianity.

I should have remembered that when one is going to lead an entirely new life, one requires regular and wholesome meals.

Society often forgives the criminal; it never forgives the dreamer.

It is perfectly possible to get what you think you want and be miserable. It's possible too, to never get it but deeply enjoy the process of trying. In this world, there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.