"He was a genius - that is to say, a man who does superlatively and without obvious effort something that most people cannot do by the uttermost exertion of their abilities."

"Every man is wise when attacked by a mad dog; fewer when pursued by a mad woman; only the wisest survive when attacked by a mad notion."

"A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity and once more in old age, as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon and by moonlight."

"The world is full of people whose notion of a satisfactory future is, in fact, a return to the idealised past."

"Tristan and Isolde were lucky to die when they did. They'd have been sick of all that rubbish in a year."

"Few people can see genius in someone who has offended them."

"Everyone takes the limits of his own vision for the limits of the world."

"All leaders strive to turn their followers into children."

"Cherish that which is within you, and shut off that which is without."

"The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green."

"Never in the history of mankind have so many owed so much to so few."

"Boys will be boys, and so will a lot of middle-aged men."