Do you expect sincerity in man when hypocrisy is the very keynote of human nature? We are nurtured on it; we are schooled in it, we live by it; and we rarely realize it.’ – Book 3, Chapter 16

He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad.

Thirstily he set it to his lips, and as its cool refreshment began to soothe his throat, he thanked Heaven that in a world of much evil there was still so good a thing as ale.

Regret of neglected opportunity is the worst hell that a living soul can inhabit.

I am very poor - for a know nothing, understand nothing. It is not a calamitous condition until it is realized.

Only those become weary of angling who bring nothing to it but the idea of catching fish.

...it is human nature, I suppose, to be futile and ridiculous.

Truth is so often disconcerting.

To do what you imply would require nothing short of divine intervention. You must change man, not systems.

Only he who is without anything is without enemies.

There remained the sea, which is free to all, and particularly alluring to those who feel themselves at war with humanity.

Writers cannot choose their own mood: with them it is not always hide-tide, nor --thank Heaven!--always Storm.

My space chums think reality was once a primitive method of crowd control that got out of hand. In my view, it’s absurdity dressed up in a three-piece business suit.

If your thoughts can change your actions, then your actions can change your thoughts.

It's okay for you to lie but not for me to try

Putting yourself first means you will never be last.

It's like my father always said to me, he said to me, he said, Roseanna Roseanadana, it's always something. If it isn't one thing--it's another! It's always something.

Why is a picture of something real eventually more exciting than the thing itself?

All I can say is that laughter is my music; I would deeply suspect an argument which hadn't laughter.

If you have a complex life, make it simple; if you have a simple life, continue it that way!

Theology is never any help; it is searching in a dark cellar at midnight for a black cat that isn't there. Theologians can persuade themselves of anything.