Where had they all gone to, he often pondered; those threads he had once held together, how far had they scattered, some to break, others to weave into unknown patterns? The strange randomness of the...

As most real writers do, he wrote because he had something to say, not because of any specific ambition to be a writer.

What a host of little incidents, all deep-buried in the past — problems that had once been urgent, arguments that had once been keen, anecdotes that were funny only because one remembered the fun. Did...

People make mistakes in life through believing too much, but they have a damned dull time if they believe too little.

You were contemplating the mountain, Mr. Conway?” Came the inquiry.”Yes, it’s a fine sight. It has a name, I suppose?””It is called Karakal””I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it. Is is very high?””Over twenty-eight...

Have you ever been going somewhere with a crowd and you’re certain it’s the wrong road and you tell them, but they won’t listen, so you just have to plod along in what you know...

It’s a very remarkable story.””Remarkable’s a well-chosen word. It doesn’t give you away.

If I could put it into a very few words, dear sir, I should say that our prevalent belief is in moderation. We inculcate the virtue of avoiding excesses of all kinds—even including, if you...

The right mixture of caring and not caring – I suppose that’s what love is.

The will of God or the lunacy of man – it seemed to him that you could take your choice, if you wanted a good enough reason for most things. Or, alternatively (and he thought...

His guests found it fun to watch him make tea — mixing careful spoonfuls from different caddies.

For Chips, like some old sea captain, still measured time by the signals of the past. . . .

It seemed to him that the little Manchu had never looked so radiant. She gave him a most charming smile, but her eyes were all for the boy.

Then the whole range, much nearer now, paled into fresh splendor; a full moon rose, touching each peak in succession like some celestial lamplighter, until the long horizon glittered against a blue-black sky.

We believe that to govern perfectly it is necessary to avoid governing too much.

For he did not, he would have said, care for women; he never felt at home or at ease with them; and that monstrous creature beginning to be talked about, the New Woman of the...

Life’s more important than a living. So many people who make a living are making death, not life. Don’t ever join them. They’re the gravediggers of our civilization – The safe men. The compromisers. The...