There are charms made only for distant admiration.

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.

Never allow yourself to be defined by some else's opinion of you....unless they hold a higher opinion of you than you have for yourself.

I know plenty of actors smarter than me with better taste than me who love horror movies and love sci-fi and it just doesn't make sense to me.

Why are we working so hard to preserve Iraq, a fake country to begin with? Why do we care whether this fake country that was drawn on the map 100 years ago remains?

I was always concerned with writing to my age at a particular moment. That was the way I would keep faith with the audience that supported me as I went along.

If you bail out every investment bank that gets in trouble, that's not capitalism, that's socialism for the rich

After all, what does fame everlasting mean? Mere vanity.

The color of communism was not red but gray.

I'm guessing the stress of having to write for a deadline can be inspiring. Sometimes, pressure is good.

Mike Smith - living proof of the need for ejector seats in helicopters.

I didn't know how a working-class girl like me could possibly make a living in the art world