It must be that there is something naturally absurd in a sincere emotion, though why there should be I cannot imagine, unless it is that man, the ephemeral inhabitant of an insignificant planet, with all his pain and all his striving is but a jest in an eternal mind.

Life isn't long enough for love and art.

A dictator must fool all the people all the time and there's only one way to do that, he must also fool himself.

A novelist must preserve a childlike belief in the importance of things which common sense considers of no great consequence.

By the time a man notices that he is no longer young, his youth has long since left him.

You've been brought up like a gentleman and a Christian, and I should be false to the trust laid upon me by your dead father and mother if I allowed you to expose yourself to such temptation.' Well, I know I'm not a Christian and I'm beginning to doubt whether I'm a gentleman,' said Philip.

Women's hearts are like old china, none the worse for a break or two.