Le coeur a ses raisons, Mrs. Bence, que la raison ne connait pas. - James Thurber

People who do not understand pigeons — and pigeons can be understood only when you understand that there is nothing to understand about them — should not go around describing pigeons or the effect of pigeons.

It was Lisa, aged five, whose mother asked her to thank my wife for the peas we had sent them from our garden. 'I thought the peas were awful, I wish you and Mrs. Thurber were dead, and I hate trees,' said Lisa.

I used to wake up at 4 A.M. and start sneezing, sometimes for five hours. I tried to find out what sort of allergy I had but finally came to the conclusion that it must be an allergy to consciousness.