Surely the novel should be a form of art - but art was not enough. It must contain not only the perfection of art, but the imperfection of nature.

All change is not growth as all movement is not forward.

All change is not growth, as all movement is not forward.

A tragic irony of life is that we so often achieve success or financial independence after the chief reason for which we sought it has passed away.

What happens is not as important as how you react to what happens.

It is lovely, when I forget all birthdays, including my own, to find that somebody remembers me.

It is human nature to overestimate the thing you've never had.

The worst thing about war is that so many people enjoy it.

The older I grow the more earnestly I feel that the few joys of childhood are the best that life has to give.

I have little faith in the theory that organized killing is the best prelude to peace.

The only difference between a rut and a grave are the dimensions.

When you are unhappy, do not resist it! Let your unhappiness do its turn. After that the turn comes to the happiness!

Women who set a low value on themselves make life hard for all women.

I don't call myself a writer.

This is what I've always been interested in, trying to make timeless, functional, real clothes.

James Agate, a great critic of the day, advised me that the way to learn your job properly was to learn Shakespeare, so I went to Stratford. It really sorts out the men from the boys.

I was more independent than any farmer in Concord, for I was not anchored to a house or farm, but could follow the bent of my genius, which is a very crooked one, every moment.

The biggest misconception people have is that quality is all that matters. The truth is that quality helps, but there’s a ton of high-quality things that don’t go anywhere.

The Elephant Man would never have gotten up and gone, ‘Oh, God. Look at me hair today.’

The masculine DOES while the feminine IS. Major in the feminine, but minor in the masculine.

Nature knows no difference between weeds and flowers.