“She belongs to a race of delightful women, who never do any harm, whom everybody calls good, and who are very severe on those who do not pretend to be good.”

“It's the people who try to be clever who never are; the people who are clever never think of trying to be.”

“She was beginning to understand that evil is not absolute, and that good is often an occasion more than a condition.”

“There's no credit in not doing what you don't want to do. There's no virtue in not falling, when you're not tempted.”

“I'm never going to accomplish anything; that's perfectly clear to me. I'm never going to be famous. My name will never be writ large on the roster of Those Who Do Things. I don't do anything. Not one single thing. I used to bite my nails, but I don't even do that any more.”

“God, the bitter misery that reading works into this world! Everybody knows that - everbody who IS everybody. All the best minds have been off reading for years. Look at the swing La Rouchefoucauld took at it. He said that if nobody had ever learned to read, very few people would be in love. Good for you, La Rouchefoucauld; nice going, boy. I wish I’d never learned to read.”

“War is cruelty, and none can make it gentle.”