“The test of a vocation is the love of the drudgery it involves.”

“What I like in a good author is not what he says, but what he whispers.”

“There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and, after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second.”

“People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading.”

“Then I thought of reading—the nice and subtle happiness of reading. This was enough, this joy not dulled by Age, this polite and unpunishable vice, this selfish, serene, life-long intoxication.”

“Then I though of reading -- the nice and subtle happiness of reading ... this joy not dulled by age, this polite and unpunishable vice, this selfish, serene, lifelong intoxication.”

“Don't laugh at a youth for his affectations; he's only trying on one face after another till he finds his own.”