Writers mean more than they say and say more than they mean.

The real secrets are not the ones I tell.

Sloth, not ill-will, makes me unjust.

To confer dignity, forgive. To express contempt, forget.

I did not know I was in my prime until afterwards.

A blunt statement can be as false as any other.

When I prayed for success, I forgot to ask for sound sleep and good digestion.

After my spectacular failures, I could not be satisfied with an ordinary success.

If modesty disappeared, so would exhibitionism.

Kindness eases everything almost as much as money does.

An academic dialect is perfected when its terms are hard to understand and refer only to one another.

Unlike the actual, the fictional explains itself.

Creativity makes a leap, then looks to see where it is.

Journalism never admits that nothing much is happening.

Innocence: I am only stepping on your face because it lies in my path.

Seeing my malevolent face in the mirror, my benevolent soul shrinks back.

Critic's delight: scolding the Mighty Dead.

Magic trick: to make people disappear, ask them to fulfill their promises.

Bad faith likes discourse on friendship and loyalty.

The man of sensibility is too busy talking about his feelings to have time for good deeds.

My mind is led astray by every faint rustle.

My passions have never jumped out of the fireplace and set fire to the carpet.

Money: power at its most liquid.

Middle age went by while I was mourning for my lost youth.