Proverbs often contradict one another, as any reader soon discovers. The sagacity that advises us to look before we leap read more

Proverbs often contradict one another, as any reader soon discovers. The sagacity that advises us to look before we leap promptly warns us that if we hesitate we are lost; that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but out of sight, out of mind.

The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit.

The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit.

To be occasionally quoted is the only fame I care for.

To be occasionally quoted is the only fame I care for.

I do not say a proverb is amiss when aptly and reasonably applied, but to be forever discharging them, right read more

I do not say a proverb is amiss when aptly and reasonably applied, but to be forever discharging them, right or wrong, hit or miss, renders conversation insipid and vulgar.

Proverbs are short sentences drawn from long experience.

Proverbs are short sentences drawn from long experience.

I pick my favourite quotations and store them in my mind as ready armour, offensive or defensive, amid the struggle read more

I pick my favourite quotations and store them in my mind as ready armour, offensive or defensive, amid the struggle of this turbulent existence.

When a thing has been said and well said, have no scruple; take it and copy it

When a thing has been said and well said, have no scruple; take it and copy it

A fine quotation is a diamond in the hand of a man of wit and a pebble in the hand read more

A fine quotation is a diamond in the hand of a man of wit and a pebble in the hand of a fool.

Every book is a quotation; and every house is a quotation out of all forests and mines and stone quarries; read more

Every book is a quotation; and every house is a quotation out of all forests and mines and stone quarries; and every man is a quotation from all his ancestors