There are people who believe everything is sane and sensible that is done with a solemn face. ... It is no great art to say something briefly when, like Tacitus, one has something to say; when one has nothing to say, however, and none the less writes a whole book and makes truth ... into a liar - that I call an achievement.

The great rule: If the little bit you have is nothing special in itself, at least find a way of saying it that is a little bit special.

Do we write books so that they shall merely be read? Don't we also write them for employment in the household? For one that is read from start to finish, thous…

As I take up my pen I feel myself so full, so equal to my subject, and see my book so clearly before me in embryo, I would almost like to try to say it all in …

There is not an idea that cannot be expressed in 200 words. But the writer must know precisely what he wants to say. If you have nothing to say and want badly …

You may choose your word like a connoisseur, And polish it up with art, But the word that sways, and stirs, and stays, Is the word that comes from the heart. Y…

A writer is someone who can make a riddle out of an answer.