I always find it more difficult to say the things I mean than the things I don't.

He found that it was easy to make a heroic gesture, but hard to abide by its results.

Considering how foolishly people act and how pleasantly they prattle, perhaps it would be better for the world if they talked more and did less.

I thought it was only in revealed religion that a mistranslation improved the sense.

Truth is not only stranger than fiction, it is more telling. To know that a thing actually happened gives it a poignancy, touches a chord, which a piece of acknowledged fiction misses. It is to touch this chord that some authors have done everything they could to give you the impression that they are telling the plain truth.

No woman is worth more than a fiver unless you're in love with her. Then she's worth all she costs you.

I would sooner read a time-table or a catalogue than nothing at all. They are much more entertaining than half the novels that are written.