I quote others only in order the better to express myself. •Michel De Montaigne Certain brief sentences read more

I quote others only in order the better to express myself. •Michel De Montaigne Certain brief sentences are peerless in their ability to give one the feeling that nothing remains to be said. •Jean Rostand I shall never be ashamed of citing a bad author if the line is good.

Writers seldom choose as friends those self-contained characters who are never in trouble, never unhappy or ill, never make mistakes, read more

Writers seldom choose as friends those self-contained characters who are never in trouble, never unhappy or ill, never make mistakes, and always count their change when it is handed to them.

Books are men of higher stature; the only men that speak aloud for future times to hear.

Books are men of higher stature; the only men that speak aloud for future times to hear.

Quotation... A writer expresses himself in words that have been used before because they give his meaning better than he read more

Quotation... A writer expresses himself in words that have been used before because they give his meaning better than he can give it himself, or because they are beautiful or witty, or because he expects them to touch a cord of association in his reader, or because he wishes to show that he is learned and well read. Quotations due to the last motive are invariably ill-advised; the discerning reader detects it and is contemptuous; the undiscerning is perhaps impressed, but even then is at the same time repelled, pretentious quotations being the surest road to tedium.

I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.

I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.

Keep your words sweet -- you may have to eat them. I expect to pass through this world but once; read more

Keep your words sweet -- you may have to eat them. I expect to pass through this world but once; any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.

Criticism is an indirect form of self-boasting.

Criticism is an indirect form of self-boasting.

The wise weigh their words on a scale with gold.

The wise weigh their words on a scale with gold.

The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it.

The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it.