Breaking the ice in the pitcher seems to be a feature of the early lives of all great men.

Charlemagne either died or was born or did something with the Holy Roman Empire in 800.

But ice-crunching and loud gum-chewing, together with drumming on tables, and whistling the same tune 70 times in succession, because they indicate an indifference on the part of the perpetrator to the rest of the world in general, are not only registered on the delicate surfaces of the brain but eat little holes in it until it finally collapses or blows up.

Breaking the ice in the pitcher seems to be a feature of the early lives of all great men.

We are constantly being surprised that people did things well before we were born.

England and America should scrap cricket and baseball and come up with a new game that they both can play. Like baseball, for example.

The knocking out of a pipe can be made almost as important as the smoking of it, especially if there are nervous people in the room. A good, smart knock of a pipe against a tin wastebasket and you will have a neurasthenic out of his chair and into the window sash in no time.