The impulse to ask questions is among the more primitive human lusts.

It is a common delusion that you make things better by talking about them.

Life, for all its agonies...is exciting and beautiful, amusing and artful and endearing...and whatever is to come after it -- we shall not have this life again.

So they left the subject and played croquet, which is a very good game for people who are annoyed with one another, giving many opportunities for venting rancor.

At the worst, a house unkept cannot be so distressing as a life unlived.

Once you get to know your neighbors, you are no longer free, you are all tangled up, you have to stop and speak when you are out and you never feel safe when you are in.

The great and recurrent question about Abroad is, is it worth the trouble of getting there?

Human passions against eternal laws -- that is the everlasting conflict.

To lunch with the important ... that should be the daily goal of those for whom life is not a playground but a ladder.

As to the family, I have never understood how that fits in with the other ideals -- or, indeed, why it should be an ideal at all.

Only one hour in the normal day is more pleasurable than the hour spent in bed with a book before going to sleep, and that is the hour spent in bed with a book after being called in the morning.

Your mind is the most powerful thing in your control.

Can you see a serene island in the middle of a stormy ocean? And the wise man is that calm island!

You're brilliant, "he says."But you're a fool to stay with someone like me."I close my eyes at the touch of his hand."Then we are both fools.

A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue but the parent of all other virtues.

I know who the Versace woman is because I wear the clothes myself.

Most of us spend our lives protecting ourselves from losses that have already happened.

Our enemy is by tradition our savior, in preventing us from superficiality.

I'm not sure if it's fair to call it a "fairy tale," but I really loved Mulan, the Disney film. It was my favorite. I guess it's not really a fairy tale, but you do get Eddie Murphy as a dragon.

Heaven is where the reasonable people are!

If someone accidentally ingests sodium azide, you shouldn't try to resuscitate the person because you could die, too, giving CPR. This is a highly toxic chemical.