I had a tame rat when I was a boy, and I loved that animal as only a boy would love an old water-rat.
Contented, unambitious people are all very well in their way. They form a neat, useful background for great portraits to be painted against, and they make a respectable, if not particularly intelligent, audience for the active spirits of the age to play before.
Nothing is more beautiful than the love that has weathered the storms of life. The love of the young for the young, that is the beginning of life. But the love of the old for the old, that is the beginning of things longer.
It is so pleasant to come across people more stupid than ourselves. We love them at once for being so.
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.
It is impossible to enjoy idling thoroughly unless one has plenty of work to do.
It is always the best policy to speak the truth, unless, of course, you are an exceptionally good liar.
Idling has always been my strong point.
A glass of wine often makes me a better man than hearing a sermon.
The advantage of literature over life is that its characters are clearly defined, and act consistently.
The weather is like the government, always in the wrong.
There is no more thrilling sensation I know of than sailing. It comes as near to flying as man has got to yet – except in dreams.
There may be a better land where bicycle saddles are made of rainbow, stuffed with cloud; in this world the simplest thing is to get used to something hard.
We are so bound together that no man can labor for himself alone. Each blow he strikes in his own behalf helps to mold the universe.
The world must be rather a rough place for clever people. Ordinary folk dislike them, and as for themselves, they hate each other most cordially.
Life will always remain a gamble, with prizes sometimes for the imprudent, and blanks so often to the wise.
What I am looking for is a blessing not in disguise.
I don’t know why it should be, I am sure; but the sight of another man asleep in bed when I am up, maddens me.
I want a house that has got over all its troubles; I don’t want to spend the rest of my life bringing up a young and inexperienced house.
He is very imprudent, a dog; he never makes it his business to inquire whether you are in the right or the wrong, never asks whether you are rich or poor, silly or wise, sinner or saint. You are his pal. That is enough for him.