The trouble with an alarm clock is that what seems sensible when you set it seems absurd when it goes off

Hemingway never grew out of adolescence. His scope and depth stayed shallow because he had no idea what women are for.

A Dickens character to me is a theatrical projection of a character. Not that it isn't real. It's real, but in that removed sense. But Sherlock Holmes is simply there. I would be astonished if I went to 221½ B Baker Street and didn't find him.

Nothing is more admirable than the fortitude with which millionaires tolerate the disadvantages of their wealth.

The trouble with an alarm clock is that what seems sensible when you set it seems absurd when it goes off

Every book takes me from 35 to 41 days to write. I don't know why that is. I've tried to get it down to 30 or 31, depending on the length of the month, but it won't work. I don't drink while I'm writing because it fuddles my logical processes, but when I finish a book I go down to the kitchen and pour myself a big belt.

[A] pessimist gets nothing but pleasant surprises, an optimist nothing but unpleasant.