A mixture of admiration and pity is one of the surest recipes for affection.

Conversation

Conversation would be vastly improved by the constant use of four simple words: I do not know.

Invention and Inventor

We owe to the Middle Ages the two worst inventions of humanity -- gunpowder and romantic love.

Marriage

A marriage without conflicts is almost as inconceivable as a nation without crises.

Pity

Self-pity comes so naturally to all of us. The most solid happiness can be shaken by the compassion of a fool.

Writers and Writing

The need to express oneself in writing springs from a mal-adjustment to life, or from an inner conflict which the adolescent (or the grown man) cannot resolve in action. Those to whom action comes as easily as breathing rarely feel the need to break loose from the real, to rise above, and describe it... I do not mean that it is enough to be maladjusted to become a great writer, but writing is, for some, a method of resolving a conflict, provided they have the necessary talent.