To write a good love letter, you ought to begin without knowing what you mean to say, and to finish read more

To write a good love letter, you ought to begin without knowing what you mean to say, and to finish without knowing what you have written.

When a man can observe himself suffering and is able, later, to describe what he's gone through, it means he read more

When a man can observe himself suffering and is able, later, to describe what he's gone through, it means he was born for literature.

I am grieved that it should be said he is my brother, and take these courses. Well, as he brews, read more

I am grieved that it should be said he is my brother, and take these courses. Well, as he brews, so shall he drink, for George again. Yet he shall hear on't, and tightly, too, an' I live, i'faith. - Every Man In His Humor.

For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,And breathed in the face of the foe as he read more

For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,And breathed in the face of the foe as he pass'd;And the eyes of the sleepers wax'd deadly and chill,And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still! - Destruction of Sennacherib, The.

You, the Spirit of the Settlement! ... Not understand that America is God's crucible, the great melting-pot where all the read more

You, the Spirit of the Settlement! ... Not understand that America is God's crucible, the great melting-pot where all the races of Europe are melting and re-forming! Here, you stand, good folk, think I, when I see them at Ellis Island, here you stand in your fifty groups, with your fifty languages and histories, and your fifty blood hatreds and rivalries... - Melting Pot, The.

Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity.

Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity.

I've always believed in writing without a collaborator, because where two people are writing the same book, each believes he read more

I've always believed in writing without a collaborator, because where two people are writing the same book, each believes he gets all the worries and only half the royalties.

I dare say I am compelled, unconsciously compelled, now to write volume after volume, as in past years I was read more

I dare say I am compelled, unconsciously compelled, now to write volume after volume, as in past years I was compelled to go to sea, voyage after voyage. Leaves must follow upon each other as leagues used to follow in the days gone by, on and on to the appointed end, which, being truth itself, is one -- one for all men and for all occupations.

Writing is not a profession but a vocation of unhappiness.

Writing is not a profession but a vocation of unhappiness.