And so everything depends on you, Bertie. Bishop or rook. Your life or mine. Do what you believe you have to do.

Why had his mother gone to the trouble of bringing him into the world if the most exciting moment in his life was having been made lame by a bayonet?

...the wrath of God pales beside that of man.

Time is a river sweeping away all that is born towards the darkest shore.

There is little more I can add short of dissecting the man, or going into intimate details such as the modest proportions and slight southeasterly curvature of his manhood.

Merrick belonged to that class of reader who was able to forget with amazing ease the hand moving the characters behind the scenes of the novel.

Because between doing something and doing nothing, this is all I can do.

...but there are stories that cannot begin at their beginning, and perhaps this is one of them.

Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, then it’s not the end.

Misunderstanding is generally simpler than true understanding, and hence has more potential for popularity.

Don't forget until too late that the business of life is not business but living.

The American people do not want people thumbing their nose at the law. It undercuts the very fabric of our society and the system of civil justice and of criminal justice as well.

The words of genius have a wider meaning than the thought that prompted them.

Two meanings have our lightest fantasies,- One of the flesh, and of the spirit one.

The questions that are beyond the reach of economics-the beauty, dignity, pleasure and durability of life-may be inconvenient but they are important.

I don't view Twitter as a promotional tool but as a really, really, really cool cocktail party.

The religious opponents of Christian conservatives are presented as moderates.

You have to laugh, you have to be able to take criticism.