“The bicycle, the bicycle surely, should always be the vehicle of novelists and poets.”

“The courage of the poet is to keep ajar the door that leads into madness.”

“Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to be always part of unanimity.”

“A doctor is advertised by the bodies he cures. My business is advertised by the minds I stimulate. And let me tell you that the book business is different from other trades. People don't know they want books. I can see just by looking at you that your mind is ill for lack of books but you are blissfully unaware of it!”

“We’ve had bad luck with our kids – they’ve all grown up.”

“The everlasting lure of round-the-corner, how fascinating it is.”

“No man is lonely while eating spaghetti:it requires so much attention.”