There are different kinds of wrong. The people sinned against are not always the best.

A leopard does not change his spots, or change his feeling that spots are rather a credit.

Anyone who picks up a Compton-Burnett finds it very hard not to put it down.

My youth is escaping without giving me anything it owes me.

We can build upon foundations anywhere if they are well and firmly laid.

As regards plot I find real life no help at all. Real life seems to have no plots. And as I think a plot desirable and almost necessary, I have this extra grudge against life.

Real life seems to have no plots.

I never know why self-sacrifice is noble. Why is it better to sacrifice oneself than someone else?

Many people misjudge the permanent effect of sorrow, and their capacity to live in the past.

Appearances are not held to be a clue to the truth,' said his cousin. 'But we seem to have no other.

A plot is like the bones of a person, not interesting like expression, or signs of experience, but the support of the whole.

It is weak and despicable to go on wanting things and not trying to get them.

Wealth comes from knowing what others do not know.

Yes, I am imperfect and vulnerable and sometimes afraid, but that doesn't change the truth that I am also brave and worthy of love and belonging.

I know you feel inhuman, and as if you are set apart, away from life and love, but... I promise you, the right man won't care.

Everybody has his own theatre, in which he is manager, actor, prompter, playwright, sceneshifter, boxkeeper, doorkeeper, all in one, and audience into the bargain.

You know who was a hero? Franklin Roosevelt.

Men are boys in bigger packages.

I doubt if any of them would even intentionally double-park.

To conquer the enemy without resorting to war is the most desirable. The highest form of generalship is to conquer the enemy by strategy.

Children's books are written for upbringing...but upbringing is a great thing; it decides the fate of the human being.