Canada has one of the highest rates of insanity in any civilized country and one reason might be that life in many places is so desperately dull.

Did you know that Puritanism went hand in hand with dirt, that Oliver Cromwell put a 100 per cent tax on soap and that the repeal of the soap tax was one of the most popular acts of Charles II at his Restoration?

The love of truth lies at the root of much humor.

The egotist is all surface; underneath is a pulpy mess and a lot of self-doubt. But the egoist may be yielding and even deferential in things he doesn't consider important; in anything that touches his core he is remorseless.

The most original thing a writer can do is write like himself. It is also his most difficult task.

The clerisy are those who seek, and find, delight and enlargement of life in books. The clerisy are those for whom reading is a personal art.

No one needs a word processor if he has an efficient secretary.