It is unfair to expect a politician to live in private up to the statements he makes in public.

One does not really feel much grief at other people's sorrows; one tries, and puts on a melancholy face, thinking oneself brutal for not caring more; but one cannot and it is better, for if one grieved too deeply at other people's tears, life would be unendurable; and every man has sufficient sorrows of his own without taking to heart his neighbour's.

It was such a lovely day I thought it a pity to get up.

The subjunctive mood is in its death throes, and the best thing to do is to put it out of its misery as soon as possible.

And I have the sunset, and the Tuscan wine, and the white teeth of the women in Rome. I am a traveler in Romance.

The most valuable thing I have learned from life is to regret nothing.

The author always loads his dice, but he must never let the reader see that he has done so, and by the manipulation of his plot, he can engage the reader's attention so that he does not perceive the violence that has been done to him.