He did not care upon what terms he satisfied his passion. He had even a mad, melodramatic idea to drug her.

Nothing in the world is permanent, and we’re foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we’re still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it.

We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person.

To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life.

It's a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.

If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will lose that too.

The secret to life is meaningless unless you discover it yourself.

The only important thing in a book is the meaning that it has for you.

It is dangerous to let the public behind the scenes. They are easily disillusioned and then they are angry with you, for it was the illusion they loved.

The common idea that success spoils people by making them vain, egotistic and self-complacent is erroneous; on the contrary it makes them, for the most part, humble, tolerant and kind.

Imagination grows by exercise, and contrary to common belief, is more powerful in the mature than in the young.

Too many problem-solving sessions become battlegrounds where decisions are made based on power rather than intelligence.

I thought the divorce statistics would never apply to me. I was beyond heartbroken when they did. But I got up and got on with it. I also kept my belief in marriage.

All the learnin' my father paid for was a bit o' birch at one end and an alphabet at the other.

Cosmic upheaval is not so moving as a little child pondering the death of a sparrow in the corner of a barn.

Unless we increase our economy's productivity-its vitality and competitiveness-we will face pressure for increasing controls.

The strong and virtuous admit no destiny.

Love is a tender plant; when properly nourished, it becomes sturdy and enduring, but neglected it will soon wither and die.

We believe we can train any intelligent, quick thinking person to be a trader. We feel traders are made, not born.

The irony of acquiring a foreign tongue is that I have amassed just enough cheap, serviceable words to fuel my desires and never, never enough lavish, impudent ones to feed them.

I grew up under Thatcher. I grew up believing that I was fundamentally powerless. Then gradually over the years it occurred to me that this was actually a very convenient myth for the state.