We Are All Tourists In History, And

The Contents Of Someone's Bookcase Are Part Of His History, Like An Ancestral Portrait.

In An Age Like Ours, Which Is Not Given To Letter-writing, We Forget What An Important Part It Used To Play In People's Lives.

To Choose A Writer For A Friend Is Like Palling Around With Your Cardiologist, Who Might Be Musing As You Talk To Him That You Are A Sinking Man. A Writer's Love For Another Writer Is Never Quite Free Of Malice. He May Enjoy Discussing Your Failures Even More Than You Do. He Probably Sees You As Tragic, Like His Characters - Or Unworthy Of Tragedy, Which Is Worse.

The Moment A Book Is Lent I Begin To Miss It.

Sometimes It Seems That We Might Have Been Happier If We Had Once Had An Aristocracy To Blame Everything On.