Pure water is the best of gifts that man to man can bring, But who am I that I should have the best of anything? Let princes revel at the pump, let peers with ponds make free, Whisky, or wine, or even beer is good enough for me.

If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to serve as a horrible warning.

Then I cast loose my buff coat, each halter let fall, Shook off both my jack-boots, let go belt and all, Stood up in the stirrup, leaned, patted his ear, Called my Roland his pet name, my horse without peer; Clapped my hands, laughed and sang, any noise bad or good, 'Til at length into Aix Roland galloped and stood.

I give the fight up; let there be an end, A privacy, an obscure nook for me, I want to be forgotten even by God.

Short as life is, we make it still shorter by the careless waste of time.

cat's pajamas (same meaning as cat's ass).

The biggest things are often the easiest to do because there is so little competition.

My early and invincible love of reading, . . . I would not exchange for the treasures of India.

If you shoot at a king you must kill him.

Some editors are failed writers, but so are most writers.

If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.

There is no need for peculiar conditions in order to grow in the spiritual life, for the pressure of God's Spirit is present everywhere and at all times. Our environment itself -- our home and our job -- is the medium through which we experience His moulding action and His besetting love. It is not Christian to try to get out of our frame, or to separate our outward life from our life of prayer, since both are the creation of one Charity. The third-rate little town in the hills, with its limited social contacts and monotonous manual work, reproves us when we begin to fuss about our opportunities and our score. And this quality of quietness, ordinariness, simplicity, with which the saving action of God enters history, endures from the beginning to the end.

The typewriting machine, when played with expression, is no more annoying than the piano when played by a sister or near relation.

But, spite of all the criticising elves, Those who would make us feel, must feel themselves.

are not decided by speeches and majority votes, but by blood and iron.

One advantage of marriage is that, when you fall out of love with him or he falls out of love with you, it keeps you together until you fall in again.

The ideal social state is not that in which each gets an equal amount of wealth, but in which each gets in proportion to his contribution to the general stock.

Anyone who has ever looked into the glazed eyes of a soldier dying on the battlefield will think hard before starting a war. •Otto Von Bismarck Peace with a club in hand is war. •Portuguese Proverb The sinews of war are five - men, money, materials, maintenance and morale. •Bernard Mannes Baruch The greatest conqueror is he who overcomes the enemy without a blow. •Chinese Proverb Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing than we know about living. We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount.

Great events make me quiet and calm; it is only trifles that irritate my nerves.

It is base to filch a purse, daring to embezzle a million, but it is great beyond measure to steal a crown. The sin lessens as the guilt increases.