[The satirist] must fully possess, at least in the world of the imagination, the quality the lack of which he is deriding in others.

I have no faith in the sense of comforting beliefs which persuade me that all my troubles are blessings in disguise.

Behind it was that vast suspension bridge which always troubles me because it reminds me that in this mechanized age I am as little able to understand my environment as any primitive woman who thinks that a waterfall is inhabited by a spirit, and indeed less so, for her opinion might from a poetical point of view be correct.

It seemed a good idea at the time.

A strong hatred is the best lamp to bear in our hands as we go over the dark places of life, cutting away the dead things men tell us to revere.

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

the bad is more easily perceived than the good. A fresh lobster does not give such pleasure to the consumer as a stale one will give him pain.