All true friendliness begins with fire and food and drink and the recognition of rain or frost. ...Each human soul has in a sense to enact for itself the gigantic humility of the Incarnation. Every man must descend into the flesh to meet mankind.

Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly; devils fall because of their gravity.

It is the test of a good religion whether you can joke about it.

The pretence leads up to the real thing. When you are not feeling particularly friendly but know you ought to be, the best thing you can do, very often, is put on a friendly manner and behave as if you were a nicer person than you actually are. And in a few minutes, as we have all noticed, you will be really feeling friendlier than you were. Very often the only way to get a quality in reality is to start behaving as if you had it already.

There are many definite methods, honest and dishonest, which make people rich; the only ''instinct'' I know of which does it is that instinct which theological Christianity crudely describes as ''the sin of avarice.''

Smile at us, pay us, pass us; but do not quite forget. / For we are the people of England, that never have spoken yet.