I don't approve of open fires. You can't think, or talk or even make love in front of a fireplace. All you can do is stare at it.

[A] pessimist gets nothing but pleasant surprises, an optimist nothing but unpleasant.

The only thing I want is something I can't have; and that is to know if, 100 years from now, people will still buy my books.

I have a strong moral sense - by my standards.

Nothing is more admirable than the fortitude with which millionaires tolerate the disadvantages of their wealth.

Measure your minds height by the shadow it casts.

Being broke is not a disgrace, it is only a catastrophe.

Every Sherlock Holmes story has at least one marvelous scene.

Sarcasm is not the rapier of wit its wielders seem to believe it to be, but merely a club: it may, by dint of brute force, occasionally raise bruises, but it never cuts or pierces.

The more you put in your brain, the more it will hold - if you have one.

Everything in a story should be credible.

Indians are sometimes accused of being condescending toward Westerners and of being excessively preachy in their attitude toward other nations. That accusation is sometimes correct.

Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.

I don't believe that you have to be a cow to know what milk is.

Don't look too far ahead or you'll get overwhelmed. Just do the next apparent thing. Keep putting one foot in front of the other. You'll get through this. And when you do, you'll feel great!

I did pick up a guitar once, but the strings hurt my fingers so I put it down again.

arouse in the other person an eager want. He who can do this has the whole world with him. He who cannot walks a lonely way.

I love to see other women in pink. It's good for every shade of skin and hair.

There are who mistake the spirit of pugnacity for the spirit of piety, and thus harbor a devil instead of an angel.

Jackson [Rathbone] is the most artsy, creative and, I think, the most talented.

Forbidden pleasures alone are loved immoderately; when lawful, they do not excite desire.