I can never pass a cat in the street without greeting it and exchanging a few words, and the cat invariably replies.

The buildings ... had suffered the inevitable shrinkage of places revisited.

suicide can be used as a very cruel weapon, you know. It can be the ultimate revenge, leaving a scar that a living person may carry to the grave.

I do not believe that it is possible to teach a cat to obey; that is contrary to his nature.

Brutality is sometimes easier to endure than ridicule.

I simply cannot understand the passion that some people have for making themselves thoroughly uncomfortable and then boasting about it afterwards.

It is often interesting, in retrospect, to consider the trifling causes that lead to great events. A chance encounter, a thoughtless remark - and the tortuous chain reaction of coincidence is set in motion, leading with devious inevitability to some resounding climax.