... The Stomach Is Near The Heart

Not Literature Alone, But Society Itself Is Wormed And Rotten When Language Ceases To Be Respected Not Merely By Advertisers And Politicians, But By Persons Of Learning And Authority.

A Writer's First Duty Is To Be Clear. Clarity Is An Excellent Virtue. Like All Virtues It Can Be Pursued At Ruinous Cost. Paid, So Far As I Am Concerned, Joyfully.

Truth Is The Only Good And The Purest Pity. ... Men Lie For Profit Or For Pity. All Lies Turn To Poison, But A Lie That Is Told For Pity Or Shame Breeds Such A Host Of Ills That No Power On Earth Can Compass Their Redemption.

... The Whole Of Society In Washington Is To Some Degree Political. It Is Like No Other Capital City Known To Me, In That Political Thinking, The Whole Business, Technical And Personal, Of Politics, Is Not Diluted By An Equal Interest In Art, Industry, Amusement, Anything You Like. I Don't Meant That These Are Non-existent In Washington -- Only That They Are Subdued To The Ruling Passion.

In Europe, War Is A Disease Which Has Been In The Family For Generations: No One Is Surprised When It Makes Another Leap. Even The Patient Only Attends To It With Part Of His Mind.