It would kill the past, and when that was dead, he would be free.

I don't want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.

Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic.

The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.

Oh, brothers! I don't care for brothers. My elder brother won't die, and my younger brothers seem never to do anything else.

If a man treats life artistically, his brain is his heart.

What fire does not destroy, it hardens

All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril.

Whenever a man does a thoroughly stupid thing, it is always from the noblest motives.

Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter.

The basis of optimism is sheer terror.

To speak only one language is to do yourself a great injustice.

Marriage is about the most expensive way for the average man to get laundry done.

No matter what you have gone through in your youth, it is about who you choose to be in life. You can define your own destiny. You can be stronger than a very difficult past and overcome it.

Happiness for the average person may be said to flow largely from common sense - adapting one-self to circumstances - and a sense of humor.

I grew up with British rock.

Control leads to compliance; autonomy leads to engagement.

Life doesn't come with four choices.

I'm not gonna marry somebody for any reason other than the fact that I've fallen in love with them. Period! Period! And they can eat it, if they wanna think any differently!!

My house is about equidistant from the Young's brewery and the Fuller's brewery. This is no accident.

The crime fiction genre offers the writer infinite diversity of theme and treatment.