That nation is proudest and noblest and most exalted which has the greatest number of really great men.

There are dozens of young poets and fictioneers most of them a little insane in the tradition of James Joyce, who, however insane they may be, have refused to be genteel and traditional and dull.

Pugnacity is a form of courage, but a very bad form.

His name was George F. Babbitt, and . . . he was nimble in the calling of selling houses for more than people could afford to pay.

A man takes a drink, the drink takes another, and the drink takes the man.

Advertising is a valuable economic factor because it is the cheapest way of selling goods, particularly if the goods are worthless.

Every compulsion is put upon writers to become safe, polite, obedient, and sterile. In protest, I declined election to the National Institute of Arts and Letters some years ago, and now I must decline the Pulitzer Prize.