I find to my astonishment that an unhappy marriage goes on being unhappy when it is over.

It is a great pity that every human being does not, at an early stage of his life, have to write a historical work. He would then realize that the human race is in quite a jam about truth.

All good biography, as all good fiction, comes down to the study of original sin, of our inherent disposition to choose death when we ought to choose life.

The day was so delightful that I wished one could live slowly as one can play music slowly.

Nobody ever wrote a good book simply by collecting a number of accurate facts and valid ideas.

Everyone realizes that one can believe little of what people say about each other. But it is not so widely realized that even less can one trust what people say about themselves.

Whatever happens, never forget that people would rather be led to perdition by a man, than to victory by a woman.