“Conceited people never hear anything but praise.”

“But the conceited man did not hear him. Conceited people never hear anything but praise.”

“Vain men never hear anything but praise.”

“For, to conceited men, all other men are admirers.”

“Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them”

“Grown ups never understood anything by themselves. And it is rather tedious to have to explain things to them time and again”

“I know a planet where there is a certain red-faced gentleman. He has never smelled a flower. He has never looked at a star. He has never loved any one. He has never done anything in his life but add up figures. And all day he says over and over, just like you: 'I am busy with matters of consequence!' And that makes him swell up with pride. But he is not a man - he is a mushroom!”