It is the custom when praising a Russian writer to do so at the expense of all other Russian writers.

It is almost impossible to remember how tragic a place the world is when one is playing golf.

Most human beings are quite likable if you don't see too much of them.

We forget that Socrates was famed for wisdom not because he was omniscient but because he realized at the age of seventy that he still knew nothing.

We cannot get happiness by striving after it, and yet with an effort we can impart it.

The belief in the possibility of a short decisive war appears to be one of the most ancient and dangerous of human illusions.

It may be that all games are silly. But then, so are humans.

No man is uninteresting when his hat is blown off and he has to scuttle after it down the street.

Chekhov will seek out the key situation in the life of a cabman or a charwoman, and make them glow for a brief moment in the tender light of his sympathy.

There are travelers who fear to own delicate hands more than to meet a lion, and soldiers who would rather lose a limb than gain a beautiful nose by artificial methods.

A boy in love is not mainly a calf but a poet.

Never look to other couples to measure your worth

I put forward formless and unresolved notions, as do those who publish doubtful questions to debate in the schools, not to establish the truth but to seek it.

My father was a frustrated writer. I think he wanted to write the great American novel.

If you think your hands are more important in your golf swing than your legs, try walking a hole on your hands.

A losing trade, I assure you, sir: literature is a drug.

We ought always to try to influence others for good.

I think I have a good sense of humor, but I'm not, like, a joke-teller. I get the jokes, which is sometimes half the battle. Believe me, I have no idea why anyone hires me.

I thought I was terrible [to play a cameo] and decided never to act again.

As a person who has a pretty short attention span I think of music like that, completely. That's why I can quite happily change genres mid-song.

Happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue.