“Talking about one's feelings defeats the purpose of having those feelings. Once you try to put the human experience into words, it becomes little more than a spectator sport. Everything must have a cause, and a name. Every random thought must have a root in something else.”

“Skepticism has become a virtue. Cynicism and demand for proof has become enlightened thought. Is it any wonder that humans now feel more depressed and defeated than they have at any point in human history?”

“If you write, good ideas must come welling up into you so that you have something to write. If good ideas do not come at once, or for a long time, do not be troubled at all. Wait for them. Put down little ideas no matter how insignificant they are. But do not feel, any more, guilty about idleness and solitude.”

“I have a feeling that once you live through something like this, you become a little bit invincible.”

“Everything else you see and experience in this world is effect, and that includes your feelings. The cause is always your thoughts.”

“Well, the English have no family feelings. That is, none of the kind you mean. They have them, and one of them is that relations must cause no expense.”