No temptation can gravitate to a man unless there is that in his heart which is capable of responding to it.

When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.

God creates, I do not create. I assemble and I steal everywhere to do it - from what I see, from what the dancers can do, from what others do.

It seldom happens that any felicity comes so pure as not to be tempered and allayed by some mixture of sorrow.

After all, science is essentially international, and it is only through lack of the historical sense that national qualities have been attributed to it.

I can bear any pain as long as it has meaning.

There is an eloquence in true enthusiasm.

I'm not a genius. I'm just a tremendous bundle of experience.

There is a real magic in enthusiasm. It spells the difference between mediocrity and accomplishment

The Declaration of Independence I always considered as a theatrical show. Jefferson ran away with all the stage effect of that... and all the glory of it.

Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.

Modesty and conscientiousness receive their reward only in novels. In life they are exploited and then shoved aside.

Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.

Parents wonder why the streams are bitter, when they themselves have poisoned the fountain.

I've got a woman's ability to stick to a job and get on with it when everyone else walks off and leaves it.

There's no such thing as perfect writing, just like there's no such thing as perfect despair.

All men are prepared to accomplish the incredible if their ideals are threatened.

It's better to be unhappy alone than unhappy with someone.

I have a simple philosophy. Fill what's empty. Empty what's full. And scratch where it itches.

All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.

Racism is a much more clandestine, much more hidden kind of phenomenon, but at the same time it's perhaps far more terrible than it's ever been.