Ludovic had become an addict of that potent intoxicant, the English language.
—Men at Arms, 1952

Posted on April 3, 2007

Most writers in the course of their careers become thick-skinned and learn to accept vituperation, which in any other profession would be unimaginably offensive, as a healthy counterpoise to unintelligent praise.
—The New York Times, 1952

Posted on April 14, 2004

My father spent the last 20 years of his life writing letters. If someone thanked him for a wedding present, he thanked them for thanking him and there was no end to the exchange but death.
—letter, 1966

Posted on February 13, 2004

I was driven into writing because I found it was the only way a lazy and ill-educated man could make a decent living. I am not complaining about the wages. They always seem to me disproportionately high. What I mind so much is the work.
—Nash's Pall Mall Magazine, 1937

Posted on June 3, 1999

Everyone has always regarded any usage but his own as either barbarous or pedantic.
—in Nobless Oblige, Nancy Mitford (ed.)

Posted on March 16, 1999

Words should be an intense pleasure, just as leather should be to a shoemaker.
—The New York Times, 1950

Posted on March 22, 1999

One forgets words as one forgets names. One's vocabulary needs constant fertilizing or it will die.
—The Diaries of Evelyn Waugh

Posted on February 22, 2002