Other people's marriages are a perpetual source of amazement.

... it has always seemed to me that books are the supreme decorations of a room

For you must know, gentlemen, that when the mariner is dosed, he likes to know that he has been dosed: with fifteen grains or even less of this valuable substance scenting him and the very air about him there can be no doubt of the matter; and such is the nature of the human mind that he experiences a far greater real benefit than the drug itself would provide, were it deprived of its stench.

For my own part,' said Captain Aubrey, 'I have no notion of disliking a man for his beliefs, above all if he was born with them. I find I can get along very well with Jews or even...' The P of Papists was already formed, and the word was obliged to come out as Pindoos.

No man born of woman has ever understood spoken Portuguese.

I know of few men over 50 that seem to me entirely human, virtually none who has long exercised authority.

Never mind manoeuvres, always go at them.