No estimate is more in danger of erroneous calculations than those by which a man computes the force of his own genius.

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.

Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them.

We have no right to dictate, through irresponsible action or narrow-mindedness, the future of our children, and our children's children. There has been enough destruction, enough death, enough waste.

Calm, thinking villains, whom no faith could fix, Of crooked counsels and dark politics.

Style is indeed the valet of genius, and an able one too; but as the true gentleman will appear, even in rags, so true genius will shine, even through the coarsest style.

I've dated many different types. I was all over the map. For me, it was learning about being attracted to the right things in a person, not the wrong things.

Memory selects single important images, just as the camera does. In that manner both are able to isolate the highest moments of living.

Hope is like one of those orchids that grows around toxic waste: lovely in itself - and an assertion, if you like, of indefatigable good - but a sure sign that something nasty lies underneath.

Please, don't worry so much. Because in the end, none of us have very long on this Earth. Life is fleeting.

That's something lacking in a lot of modern-day families - just talking. It's almost a lost art form.

I never loved totalitarianism and all the ideas of making mankind happy always seemed crazy to me.