Oh, no doubt the cod is a splendid swimmer – admirable for swimming purposes but not for eating.
Life is too short to be in a hurry.
The reason we are so pleased to find other people’s secrets is that it distracts public attention from our own.
Children start out loving their parents, but as they grow older and discover their parents are human, they become judgmental. And sometimes, when they mature, they forgive their parents, especially when they discover they are also human.
Art should never be popular.
If you want to be witty, say what you think at all times.
Don’t run down dyed hair and painted faces. There is an extraordinary charm in them, sometimes.
If you cannot prove a man wrong, don’t panic. You can always call him names.
That very concentration of vision and intensity of purpose which is the characteristic of the artistic temperament is in itself a mode of limitation. To those who are preoccupied with the beauty of form nothing else seems of much importance.
Truth in art is the unity of a thing with itself: the outward rendered expressive of the inward: the soul made incarnate: the body instinct with spirit. For this reason there is no truth comparable to sorrow.
Every single work of art is the fulfillment of a prophecy; for every work of art is the conversion of an idea into an image.
A man whose desire is to be something separate from himself, to be a member of Parliament, or a successful grocer, or a prominent solicitor, or a judge, or something equally tedious, invariably succeeds in being what he wants to be. That is his punishment. Those who want a mask have to wear it.
I have put my talent into writing, my genius I have saved for living.
California is an Italy without its art.
Cleverness becomes a public nuisance.
Just to let you know that the buffet car will be closing for stocktaking in five minutes. The next station stop is Chesterfield.
When I see a spade, I call it a spade. I’m glad to say I have never seen a spade. The man who would call a spade a spade should be compelled to use it. It’s the only thing he’s fit for.
George Moore leads his readers to the latrine and locks them in.
When I had to fill in my immigration papers, I gave my age as 19, and my profession as genius; I added that I had nothing to declare except my talent.
If it is not nailed to the floor, it’s mine. If I can pry it loose, it is not nailed down.