No one ever finds life worth living - one has to make it worth living.

The water was not fit to drink. To make it palatable, we had to add whisky. By diligent effort, I learned to like it.

In the course of my life, I have often had to eat my words, and I must confess that I have always found it a wholesome diet.

My mother made a brilliant impression upon my childhood life. She shone for me like the evening star.

Armed with a paint-box, one cannot be bored, one cannot be left at a loose end, one cannot 'have several days on one's hands.

No matter. The dead bird does not leave the nest.

Writing ... it begins as an amusement, then it becomes a mistress, then a master, and finally a tyrant.