The novel...creates a bemusing effect. The short story, on the other hand wakes the reader up. Not only that, it answers the primitive craving for art, the wit, paradox and beauty of shape, the longing to see a dramatic pattern and significance in our experience.

Among the masked dandies of Edwardian comedy, Max Beerbohm is the most happily armored by a deep and almost innocent love of himself as a work of art.

The wrongs of childhood and upbringing have made a large and obsessional contribution to autobiography and the novel.

Life — how curious is that habit that makes us think it is not here, but elsewhere.

The Canadian spirit is cautious, observant and critical where the American is assertive.

There is more magic in sin if it is not committed.

Queen Victoria - a mixture of national landlady and actress.