...It's much better to run the risk of a few kisses before marriage, for they at least leave some memories. … or some regrets. - André Maurois

The great classic writers, it will be said, sought rather to proclaim universal truths than to leave their imprint on them.

Thinking is easy, said Goethe, acting is difficult, and to put one's thought into action is the most difficult thing in the world. And Tolstoy: It is easier to produce ten volumes of philosophical writing than to put one principle into practice.

The old writer, like the old actor, is a master of his craft. Youthfulness of style is no more than a matter of technique.