The stars that have most glory have no rest.

Beauty, sweet love, is like the morning dew, Whose short refresh upon tender green, Cheers for a time, but till the sun doth show And straight is gone, as it had never been.

Thus doth the ever-changing course of things Run a perpetual circle, ever turning; And that same day, that highest glory brings, Brings us unto the point of back-returning.

Care-charmer Sleep, son of the sable Night, Brother to Death, in silent darkness born; Relive my languish, and restore the light.

The greatest works of admiration, And all the fair examples of renown. Out of distress and misery are grown.

Love is a sickness full of woes, all remedies refusing.

Pow'r above pow'rs! O heavenly eloquence! That with the strong rein of commanding words, Dost manage, guide, and master th' eminence Of men's affections, more than all their swords!

Love is a sickness full of woes, All remedies refusing; A plant that with most cutting grows, Most barren with best using.

Striving to tell his woes, words would not come; For light cares speak, when mighty griefs are dumb.

Custom, that is before all law; Nature, that is above all art.

Flattery, the dangerous nurse of vice.

Let us not grow tired of doing good for in due time we shall reap our harvest if we do not give up. (from the Bible Galatians6:9)

My characters are quite as real to me as so-called real people

Beds aren't for sleeping, and clothes aren't for bed.

Don't confuse being stimulating with being blunt.

A monarchy conducted with infinite wisdom and infinite benevolence is the most perfect of all possible governments.

There are plenty of clever young writers. But there is too much genius, not enough talent.

The less there is of fear, the less there is of danger.

God is not found in the soul by adding anything but by a process of subtraction.

One is a writer, or one is not.

I remember attaching a wire clothing hanger to the antenna of my radio in my bedroom, so I could get the frequency and get that station and listen to the top 10 every night.