"God knows how you Protestants can be expected to have any sense of direction," she said. "It's different with us, I h…"

"The opportunities for heroism are limited in this kind of world: the most people can do is sometimes not to be as wea…"

"People are able to live with only half a heart, to live without real compassion, because they are able to use words t…"

"All writers know aspects of life that they take very much for granted, that yet to their readers appear peculiar, spe…"

"In writing novels I have never been able to place much importance upon the distinction between real and imagined. A n…"

"[T]he impulse to write a novel comes from a momentary unified vision of life."

"The roots of art and play lie very close together."

"Between Margaret's fine-edged art and Gladys's rough simplicity, where did the greater feminine solace lie? True art,…"

"Life can't be put on paper in all its complexity."

"But you mustn't be too sane, darlings. It really won't do in this family."