The power of punishment is to silence, not to confute.

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

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

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.

Life is a heroic faith.

Enlightenment is not about cocooning one’s self, but about integrating more fully with both your self and life.

Sometimes you just have to choose to let things go, to move on.

Unbelief and belief are both marching on His road, while both are saying, ‘He is one and He has no associates’.

I just [take pictures] because the camera is something to carry around in my pocket.

Prince Charles is the best-dressed man in the world.

Depressed people think they know themselves, but maybe they only know depression.

The flesh of past lovers looks both familiar and strange.

I was brought up in Scotland and have always been a country person, although the town means a great deal to me, too.