The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.

Cucumber should be well sliced, dressed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out.

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.

Exert your talents, and distinguish yourself, and don't think of retiring from the world, until the world will be sorry that you retire.

I love my enemies for two reasons: they inspire me to recognise my weakness. They also inspire me to perfect my imperfect nature.

Zeal will do more than knowledge.

My high-school papers, my college-application essays, read like Norman Mailer packed in a crunchy-peanut-butter sandwich.

After graduating from college I worked at a variety of jobs, from banking to politics. I enjoyed whatever I was doing at the time but I didn't love my work.

Frankness is a jewel; only the young can afford it.

Deep in the world of atomic nuclei, life is not always tranquil.

Real music lovers are actually my favourite kind of people because they like to know, rather than just be told what to think.

More good has been accomplished by simple people seeking their own honest ends than by all the philanthropists in history.

We Floridians have always assumed an arrogant mastery over our natural environment. And we have always presumed ourselves capable of obliging the water that is all around us to behave itself.