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.

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.

To quote copiously and well requires taste, judgment and erudition, a feeling for the beautiful, an appreciation of the noble, read more

To quote copiously and well requires taste, judgment and erudition, a feeling for the beautiful, an appreciation of the noble, and a sense of the profound

Wise sayings often fall on barren ground, but a kind word is never thrown away.

Wise sayings often fall on barren ground, but a kind word is never thrown away.

The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit.

The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit.

With all deference to Chairman Mao and other authors whose quotations derive from longer works, it seemed that I was read more

With all deference to Chairman Mao and other authors whose quotations derive from longer works, it seemed that I was becoming the world's first writer of self-contained ready-made quotations

Every man is a borrower and a mimic, life is theatrical and literature a quotation

Every man is a borrower and a mimic, life is theatrical and literature a quotation

She had a pretty gift for quotation, which is a serviceable substitute for wit.

She had a pretty gift for quotation, which is a serviceable substitute for wit.

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.