In all highly civilised communities Pretence is prominent, and sooner or later invades the regions of Literature.

Nature of course is the best guide in the matter of choosing a pursuit.

A man with an invention on which he has spent his life, but has no means to get it developed for the good of humanity - or even patented for himself - must feel the pinch of poverty very acutely.

To the truly benevolent mind, indeed, nothing is more satisfactory than to hear of a miser denying himself the necessaries of life a little too far and ridding us of his presence altogether.

The idea of bringing young people up to Literature is doubtless calculated to raise the eyebrows almost as much as the suggestion of bringing them up to the Stage.

A nobler example, because a less personal one, of the pinch of poverty, is when it prevents the accomplishment of some cherished scheme for the benefit of the human race.

The fact is, if a young man is naturally indolent, the spur of necessity will drive him but a very little way, while the having enough to live upon is often the means of preserving his self-respect.

For my part, I do not much believe in the predilections of boyhood.

A great philosopher has stated that the worst evil of poverty is, that it makes folks ridiculous; by which, I hope, he only means that, as in the above case, it places them in incongruous positions.

I never had a piece of toast particularly long and wide, But fell upon the sanded floor, And always on the buttered side.

Some Critics on the Hearth are not only good-natured, but have rather too high, or, if that is impossible, let us say too pronounced, an opinion of the abilities of their literary friends.

Change, I've come to understand, rises up like nausea: the promise of relief is what makes it bearable.

Healing facilitates lasting change

Through the years I have seen myself as a peaceful person, but the awareness of the anger is part of that process.

The tiger will never lie down with the lamb; he acknowledges no pact that is not reciprocal. The lamb must learn to run with the tigers.

Funds are low again, hallelujah! That means God trusts us and is willing to leave His reputation in our hands.

Art itself has become an extraordinary thing - the activity of peculiar people - people who become more and more peculiar as their activity becomes more and more extraordinary.

I often use humor as a tool in my writing, and sometimes that works and sometimes it sits alone just as a funny line.

I never sit on a fence. I am either on one side or another.

Man is what he wills himself to be.

The soul is silent. If it speaks at all it speaks in dreams.