“What an absurdity to go and bury oneself in South America, where they are always having revolutions.”

“One must have consideration for those less gifted than oneself.”

“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.”

“Hasting - There are times when it is one's duty to assert oneself.”

“Go away where you're loved and taken care of and looked after.”

“I don't think necessity is the mother of invention. Invention . . . arises directly from idleness, possibly also from laziness. To save oneself trouble.”

“I've always believed in writing without a collaborator, because where two people are writing the same book, each believes he gets all the worries and only half the royalties.”