She could not admit but that he had remarkable qualities, sometimes she thought that there was even in him a strange and unattractive greatness; it was curious then that she could not love him, but loved still a man whose worthlessness was now so clear to her.
A bird in the hand was worth two in the bush, he told her, to which she retorted that a proverb was the last refuge of the mentally destitute.
I’m afraid you’ve thought me a bigger fool than I am.
She says it’s really not very flattering to her that the women who fall in love with her husband are so uncommonly second-rate.
It is cruel to discover one’s mediocrity only when it is too late. It does not improve the temper.
I forget who it was that recommended men for their soul’s good to do each day two things they disliked: it was a wise man, and it is a precept that I have followed scrupulously; for every day I have got up and I have gone to bed.
Beauty is also a Gift of God, one of the most rare and precious, and we should be thankful if we are happy enough to possess it and thankful, if we are not, that others possess it for our pleasure.
The passing moment is all we can be sure of; it is only common sense to extract its utmost value from it.
It does the heart good to look at you.
Remember that it is nothing to do your duty, that is demanded of you and is no more meritorious than to wash your hands when they are dirty; the only thing that counts is the love of duty; when love and duty are one, then grace is in you and you will enjoy a happiness which passes all understanding.
The officers saluted as she passed and gravely bowed. They walked back across the courtyard and got into their chairs. She saw Waddington light a cigarette. A little smoke lost in the air, that was the life of a man.
Almost all the people who’ve had the most effect on me I seem to have met by chance, yet looking back it seems as though I couldn’t but have met them.
I happen to think we’ve set our ideal on the wrong objects; I happen to think that the greatest ideal man can set before himself is self-perfection.
I now, weak, old, diseased, poor, dying, hold still my soul in my hands, and I regret nothing.
There are many foolish people in the world and when a man in a rather high position puts on no frills, slaps them on the back, and tells them he’ll do anything in the world for them, they are very likely to think him clever.
It must be a fault in me that I am not gravely shocked at the sins of others unless they personally affect me.
It’s no use crying over spilt milk, because all of the forces of the universe were bent on spilling it.
You know, the Philistines have long since discarded the rack and stake as a means of suppressing the opinions they feared: they’ve discovered a much more deadly weapon of destruction – the wisecrack.
Never pause unless you have a reason for it, but when you pause, pause as long as you can.
I prefer a loose woman to a selfish one and a wanton to a fool.