We know our friends by their defects rather than by their merits.

There was an immeasurable distance between the quick and the dead: they did not seem to belong to the same species; and it was strange to think that but a little while before they had spoken and moved and eaten and laughed.

The highest activities of consciousness have their origins in physical occurrences of the brain, just as the loveliest melodies are not too sublime to be expressed by notes.

The great critic … must be a philosopher, for from philosophy he will learn serenity, impartiality, and the transitoriness of human things.

If you want to eat well in England, eat three breakfasts.

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

Life is really very fantastic, and one has to have a peculiar sense of humour to see the fun of it. [Virtue]