“All novelists know that crisis reveals character.”

“Character is not made by crisis. It is only exhibited.”

“character is not made in a crisis- it is only exhibited”

“As many know, the Chinese expression for "crisis" consists of two characters side by side. The first is the symbol for "danger," the second the symbol for "opportunity."”

“I believe that all novels, ... deal with character, and that it is to express character – not to preach doctrines, sing songs, or celebrate the glories of the British Empire, that the form of the novel, so clumsy, verbose, and undramatic, so rich, elastic, and alive, has been evolved ... The great novelists have brought us to see whatever they wish us to see through some character. Otherwise they would not be novelists, but poet, historians, or pamphleteers.”

“Life always waits for some crisis to occur before revealing itself at its most brilliant.”