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As a matter of self-preservation, a man needs good friends or ardent enemies, for the former instruct him and the latter take him to task.

The writer of stories or of novels settles on men and imitates them; he exhausts the possibilities of his characters.

Character is power; it makes friends, draws patronage and support and opens the way to wealth, honor and happiness.

He who stands aloof runs the risk of believing himself better than others and misusing his critique of society as an ideology for his private interest.

Friendship with a man is friendship with his virtue.

Friendship can only exist between persons with similar interests and points of view. Man and woman by the conventions of society are born with different interests and different points of view.

Inflammatory passion and selfish interest characterizes most men, whereas ambition characterizes men who pursue and hold national office. Such men rise from the people through a process of self-selection, since politics is a dirty business that discourages all but the most ambitious.

The novelist must look on humanity without partiality or prejudice. His sympathy, like that of the historian, must be unbounded, and untainted by sect or party.

It contributes greatly towards a man's moral and intellectual health, to be brought into habits of companionship with individuals unlike himself, who care little for his pursuits, and whose sphere and abilities he must go out of himself to appreciate.

Every author in some way portrays himself in his works, even if it be against his will.