Helping other people is a drug so dangerous that there is no cure short of total abstention.

I have remained true to my deepest convictions. I mean the courage of those who are born to be defeated, the weaknesses of the strong, and the tragedy of misunderstandings and missed opportunities, which I have done my best to treat as comedy—for otherwise how can we manage to bear it?

Morality is seldom a safe guide for human conduct.

If they don't depend on true evidence, scientists are no better than gossips.

I believe that people should write biographies only about people they love, or understand, or both. Novels, on the other hand, are often better if they're about people the writer doesn't like very much.

Duty is what no-one else will do at the moment.

Helping other people is a drug so dangerous that there is no cure short of total abstention.