“Your lost friends are not dead, but gone before, advanced a stage or two upon that road which you must travel in the steps they trod.”

Hunger knows no friend but its feeder.

The gods, my dear simple fellow, are a mere expression coined by vulgar superstition. We frown upon such coinage here.

There is no beast, no rush of fire, like woman so untamed. She calmly goes her way where even panthers would be shamed.

By words the mind is winged.

Tis not for us to warn a wilful sinner; We stay him not, but let him run his course, Till by misfortunes rous’d, his conscience wakes, And prompts him to appease th’ offended gods.

Evil events from evil causes spring.

I saw a cavalry captain buy vegetable soup on horseback. He carried the whole mess home in his helmet.

Words give wings to the mind and make a man soar to heaven.

I would treat her like an egg, the shell of which we remove before eating it; I would take off her mask and then kiss her pretty face.

An insult directed at the wicked is not to be censured; on the contrary, the honest man, if he has sense, can only applaud.

Love is merely the name for the desire and pursuit of the whole.

There’s no art where there’s no fee.

How can I study from below, that which is above?

Does it seem that everything is extravagance in the world, or rather madness, when you watch the way things go? A crowd of rogues enjoy blessings they have won by sheer injustice, while more honest folks are miserable and die of hunger.

It should not prejudice my voice that I’m not born a man, if I say something advantageous to the present situation. For I’m taxed too, and as a toll provide men for the nation.

Why, I’d like nothing better than to achieve some bold adventure, worthy of our trip.

I played against the Brazilians in ’82, who were definitely the best team never to have won the World Cup.

The best things said come last. People will talk for hours saying nothing much and then linger at the door with words that come with a rush from the heart.

The best moments in reading are when you come across something – a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things – which you had thought special and particular to you.

You can’t always have the best team. It’s always a compromise.

The liturgy is best treated and read as if it’s someone announcing the departure of trains.

To be most effective, flattery is always best applied with a trowel.

I had long ago discovered that when a word or formula refused to come to mind the best thing for it was to think of something else: tigers for instance or oatmeal.

This is also, I believe, what America is at its best—a whole greater than the sum of it’s parts.