If this were fiction, could even the most brilliant novelist contrive to make credible so short a period in which pride had been subdued and prejudice overcome?

If from infancy you treat children as gods, they are liable in adulthood to act as devils.

Charm is always genuine; it may be superficial but it isn't false.

It's easy to get a reputation for wisdom. It's only necessary to live long, speak little and do less.

People were excited by violence. What, after all, was the sexual act but a voluntarily endured assault, a momentary death?

Absolute nakedness was intrusive, confusing to the senses. Paradoxically, it both revealed and diminished identity.

Open your mind to new experiences, particularly to the study of other ­people. Nothing that happens to a writer – however happy, however tragic – is ever wasted.