Any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has not heart; and any man who is over 30,
and is not a conservative, has no brains. To be mature means to face, and not evade, every
fresh crisis that comes. Courage is the ladder on which all the other virtues mount. Be not
ashamed of thy virtues; honor's a good brooch to wear in a man's hat at all times. The
difference between a moral man and a man of honor is that the latter regrets a discreditable
act, even when it has worked and he has not been caught.

- - -

Perfection of moral virtue does not wholly take away the passions, but regulates them. The
happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions.
Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through
self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.

- - -

The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources. About the most originality that
any writer can hope to achieve honestly is to steal with good judgment. A scrupulous writer,
in every sentence that he writes, will ask himself at least four questions, thus: 1. What am I
trying to say? 2. What words will express it? 3. What image or idiom will make it clearer?
4. Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?

- - -

Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps,
the end of the beginning.