The only books that influence us are those for which we are ready, and which have gone a little farther down our particular path than we have yet got ourselves.

I suggest that the only books that influence us are those for which we are ready, and which have gone a little farther down our particular path than we have yet gone ourselves.

Books have to be read (worse luck it takes so long a time). It is the only way of discovering what they contain. A few savage tribes eat them, but reading is the only method of assimilation revealed to the West.

The woman who can't influence her husband to vote the way she wants ought to be ashamed of herself.

There is much good luck in the world, but it is luck. We are none of us safe. We are children, playing or quarrelling on the line.

Long books, when read, are usually overpraised, because the reader wishes to convince others and himself that he has not wasted his time.