It is our first duty to serve society, and after we have done that, we may attend wholly to the salvation of our own souls.

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.

Replace the negative traits of your character by the traits you want to have

Magick is not a supernatural power granted by spirits or demons. True magick is a natural power which exists in every person, and we have neglected it because of misguided principles.

Don't just DO something. Stand there! (and get perspective and understanding)

What you can't get out of get into wholeheartedly.

Proof is never definitive, after all; one has to begin again with each new person.

You don’t return people’s smiles—it’s perfectly clear to you that people can smile and smile and still be villains.

I feel like movies, if there's any kind of budget whatsoever, there's so much sitting, and I really like to work. Otherwise my blood sugar just drops, you know, six hours sitting in a camper.

I was too lazy to start a whole new story, so I just stuck a princess into the story I was working on... and The Princess Diaries was born!

Ambition, if it were to be savored, let alone achieved, had to be rooted in possibility.

An ingenious mind feels in unmerited praise the bitterest reproof.