A synonym is a word you use when you can't spell the word you first thought of.

A synonym is a word you use when you can't spell the word you first thought of.

To feel most beautifully alive means to be reading something beautiful, ready always to apprehend in the flow of language read more

To feel most beautifully alive means to be reading something beautiful, ready always to apprehend in the flow of language the sudden flash of poetry.

I was allowed to ring the bell for five minutes until everyone was in assembly. It was the beginning of read more

I was allowed to ring the bell for five minutes until everyone was in assembly. It was the beginning of power.

Writers seldom choose as friends those self-contained characters who are never in trouble, never unhappy or ill, never make mistakes, read more

Writers seldom choose as friends those self-contained characters who are never in trouble, never unhappy or ill, never make mistakes, and always count their change when it is handed to them.

A good writer is not necessarily a good book critic. No more so than a good drunk is automatically a read more

A good writer is not necessarily a good book critic. No more so than a good drunk is automatically a good bartender.

I think we must quote whenever we feel that the allusion is interesting or helpful or amusing.

I think we must quote whenever we feel that the allusion is interesting or helpful or amusing.

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.

That is the point of quotations. One can use another's words to be insulting.

That is the point of quotations. One can use another's words to be insulting.

The biggest critics of my books are people who never read them.

The biggest critics of my books are people who never read them.