I write only when inspiration strikes. Fortunately it strikes every morning at nine o'clock sharp.

The drama is make-believe. It does not deal with truth but with effect.

Usage is the only test. I prefer a phrase that is easy and unaffected to a phrase that is grammatical.

I happen to think we’ve set our ideal on the wrong objects; I happen to think that the greatest ideal man can set before himself is self-perfection.

On the earth, satellite of a star speeding through space, living things had arisen under the influence of conditions which were part of the planet's history; and as there had been a beginning of life upon it, so, under the influence of other conditions, there would be an end: man, no more significant than other forms of life, had come not as the climax of creation but as a physical reaction to the environment.

For my part I cannot believe in a God who is angry with me because I do not believe in him. I cannot believe in a God who is less tolerant than I. I cannot believe in a God who has neither humour nor common sense.

When things are at their worst, I find something always happens.