“Instinct is a marvelous thing. It can neither be explained nor ignored.”

“I never can stand seeing people pleased with themselves,” said Joanna. “It arouses all my worst instincts.”

“The cat is obeying its blood instinct when it plays with the mouse! It's made that way.”

“The man who came into the room did not look as though his name was, or could have ever been, Robinson. It might have been Demetrius, or Isaacstein, or Perenna - though not one or the other in particular. He was not definitely Jewish, nor definitely Greek nor Portugese nor Spanish, nor South American. What did seem highly unlikely was that he was an Englishman called Robinson.”

“Good advice is always certain to be ignored, but that's no reason not to give it.”

“Heart failure, it explains nothing! I have yet to meet a corpse whose heart it still beats.”

“One of the luckiest things that can happen to you in life is to have a happy childhood.”