Fanaticism is overcompensation for doubt.

I was afraid and did not know what I feared, which is the worst kind of fear.

Everything matters. The Universe is approximately fifteen billion years old, and I swear that in all that time, nothing has ever happened that has not mattered, has not contributed in some way to the totality.

A happy childhood has spoiled many a promising life.

Money, it is often said, does not bring happiness; it must be added, however, that it makes it possible to support unhappiness with exemplary fortitude.

One learns one’s mystery at the price of one’s innocence.

It was as though she was an exile from a world that saw things her way

If you don't hurry up and let life know what you want, life will damned soon show you what you'll get.

Conversation in its true meaning isn't all wagging the tongue; sometimes it is a deeply shared silence.

This is one of the cruelties of the theatre of life; we all think of ourselves as stars and rarely recognize it when we are indeed mere supporting characters or even supernumeraries.

This is the Great Theatre of Life. Admission is free, but the taxation is mortal. You come when you can, and leave when you must. The show is continuous. Goodnight.

Boredom and stupidity and patriotism, especially when combined, are three of the greatest evils of the world we live in.

To be a book-collector is to combine the worst characteristics of a dope fiend with those of a miser.

Love affairs are for emotional sprinters; the pleasures of love are for the emotional marathoners.

I wish people weren't so set on being themselves, when that means being a bastard.

Extraordinary people survive under the most terrible circumstances and they become more extraordinary because of it.

Authors like cats because they are such quiet, lovable, wise creatures, and cats like authors for the same reasons.

The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.

A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity and once more in old age, as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon and by moonlight.

I can anticipate no greater calamity for the country than the dissolution of the Union. It would be an accumulation of all the evils we complain of, and I am willing to sacrifice everything but honor for its preservation.

Why, it appears that we appointed all of our worst generals to command the armies and we appointed all of our best generals to edit the newspapers. I mean, I found by reading a newspaper that these editor generals saw all of the defects plainly from the start but didn't tell me until it was too late. I'm willing to yield my place to these best generals and I'll do my best for the cause by editing a newspaper.

Life Insurance trusts I consider sacred. To hazard the property of the dead & to lose the scanty earnings of fathers & husbands, who have toiled & saved that they may leave something to their families deprived of their care & the support of their labour, is to my mind the worst of crimes.

I have thought from the time of the cessation of the hostilities, that silence and patience on the part of the South was the true course; and I think so still. Controversy of all kinds will, in my opinion, only serve to continue excitement and passion, and will prevent the public mind from the acknowledgement and acceptance of the truth.

It is good that war is so terrible, or we should become too fond of it.