Books are the compasses and telescopes and sextants and charts which othermen have prepared to help us navigate the dangerous read more

Books are the compasses and telescopes and sextants and charts which othermen have prepared to help us navigate the dangerous seas of human life.

Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.

Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.

I write down everything I want to remember. That way, instead of spending a lot of time trying to remember read more

I write down everything I want to remember. That way, instead of spending a lot of time trying to remember what it is I wrote down, I spend the time looking for the paper I wrote it down on.

Arts and sciences are not cast in a mould, but are found and
perfected by degrees, by often handling read more

Arts and sciences are not cast in a mould, but are found and
perfected by degrees, by often handling and polishing, as bears
leisurely lick their clubs into shape.

The important thing in writing is the capacity to astonish. Not shock - shock is a worn-out word - but read more

The important thing in writing is the capacity to astonish. Not shock - shock is a worn-out word - but astonish.

One writes to make a home for oneself, on paper, in time and in others' minds.

One writes to make a home for oneself, on paper, in time and in others' minds.

Discretion of speech is more than eloquence; and to speak
agreeably to him with whom we deal is more read more

Discretion of speech is more than eloquence; and to speak
agreeably to him with whom we deal is more than to speak in good
words or in good order.

'Ay,' quoth my uncle Gloucester,
'Small herbs have grace, great weeds do grow apace.'
And since, methinks, read more

'Ay,' quoth my uncle Gloucester,
'Small herbs have grace, great weeds do grow apace.'
And since, methinks, I would not grow so fast,
Because sweet flow'rs are slow and weeds make haste.

The most precious things in speech are the pauses.

The most precious things in speech are the pauses.