A cruel story runs on wheels, and every hand oils the wheels as they run.

Familiarity is a magician that is cruel to beauty but kind to ugliness.

A little scandal is an excellent thing; nobody is ever brighter or happier of tongue than when he is making mischief of his neighbors.

What is failure except feebleness? And what is it to miss one's mark except to aim widely and weakly?

Indifference is the invisible giant of the world.

The fire of true enthusiasm is like the fires of Baku, which no water can ever quench, and which burn steadily on from night to day, and year to year, because their well-spring is eternal.

It is a kind of blindness--poverty. We can only grope through life when we are poor, hitting and maiming ourselves against every angle.