We are but the veriest, sorriest slaves of our stomach. Reach not after morality and righteousness, my friends; watch vigilantly your stomach, and diet it with care and judgment.

It is always the best policy to speak the truth, unless, of course, you are an exceptionally good liar.

I like work; it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours.

People who have tried it, tell me that a clear conscience makes you very happy and contented; but a full stomach does the business quite as well, and is cheaper, and more easily obtained.

A good woman's arms round a man's neck is a lifebelt thrown out to him from heaven.

Opportunities flit by while we sit regretting the chances we have lost, and the happiness that comes to us we heed not, because of the happiness that is gone.

Love is like the measles; we all have to go through it.

They [dogs] never talk about themselves but listen to you while you talk about yourself, and keep up an appearance of being interested in the conversation.

What I am looking for is a blessing not in disguise.

It is impossible to enjoy idling thoroughly unless one has plenty of work to do.

If there is one person I do despise more than another, it is the man who does not think exactly the same on all topics as I do.

I wish dogs understood: 'We're going in five minutes.

I find the family the most mysterious and fascinating institution in the world.

The proper aim of giving is to put the recipient in a state where he no longer needs our gift.

The ones who don't do anything are always the ones who try to pull you down.

I've always used songwriting as a way to help me organise reality.

The essence of leisure is not to assure that we may function smoothly but rather to assure that we, embedded in our social function, are enabled to remain fully human.

My passion is to tell stories that reflect humanity.

It seems we are often guilty of being more interested in defending God's Word than in studying it.

I think a film should have a gestation period of at least two or three years.

I want to do more documentaries and travel to places I haven't been. That is where I think I can be fulfilled.