"So, I was to talk about "Opera as Related to Literature", was I not? And because the subject is so vast, I have wande…"

"May I make a suggestion, hoping it is not an impertinence? Write it down: write down what you feel. It is sometimes a…"

"The US, for historical reasons, mistrusts the concept of a welfare state, and this mistrust shows itself nakedly unde…"

"What used to be called a Canadian novel was a kind of prairie frontier story, but it was phony. In the plot, people c…"

"Modern disillusion is unlikely to last forever, and nothing rings so hollow as the angst of yesterday."

"The most dismaying call of this kind came one night at nine o'clock from a youth of sixteen who said: "I've got to ha…"

"The world does so well without me, that I am moved to wish that I could do equally well without the world."

"When I was born good fairies clustered round my cradle, showering me with wit, beauty, grace, freedom from dandruff, …"

"If you are an intellectual, your best course is to relax and enjoy it."

"Several children present me with scraps of paper for autographs: obviously don't know who I am and don't care. I sign…"