Everybody loves to have things which please the palate put in their way, without trouble or preparation.

Cucumber should be well sliced, dressed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out.

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.

Curiosity is one of the most permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect.

Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not.

When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.

Classical quotation is the parole of literary men all over the world.

A man who uses a great many words to express his meaning is like a bad marksman who, instead of aiming a single stone at an object, takes up a handful and throws at it in hopes he may hit.

There are minds so impatient of inferiority that their gratitude is a species of revenge, and they return benefits, not because recompense is a pleasure, but because obligation is a pain.

When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.

He who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition will waste his life in fruitless efforts.

Within, you hold a tiny piece of eternity, a fraction of life, a mirror of the universe.

You need to know what you are before you can become what you are supposed to be. In order to know what you are now, you must learn what you are going to be.

All the work I do is built on a foundation of loving-kindness. Love illuminates matters.

Throw moderation to the winds, and the greatest pleasures bring the greatest pains.

Sometimes I think there are devils at work in the kitchen - recipes that are always perfect sometimes come out less than perfect and I can't figure out why.

The S.S. Sierra was a ten-thousand-ton vessel. Today, lifeboats bigger than the Sierra are found on the Queen Mary and other luxury liners.

You don't want to get that sort of sound in your writing that boing that gives you away.

I'm not somebody that keeps the thing in her heart. I can get very angry for five minutes, but then it's finished. Once I've yelled, it's over.

Sara held up a hand. 'How exactly did you "decline" his offer?' 'By slitting his throat.

In darkness one may be ashamed of what one does, without the shame of disgrace.