James Payn

“The first ingredient in conversation is truth, the next good sense, the third good humor, and the fourth wit.”

“I have never yet heard of a man who was on the road to financial ruin against his own will.”

“Misfortunes, in fine, cannot be avoided; but they may be sweetened, if not overcome, and our lives made happy by philosophy.”

“What a blessed thing it is, that Nature, when she invented, manufactured, and patented her authors, contrived to make critics out of the chips that were left!”

“Depend upon it, there are no people so easy to deceive as those who have not the slightest suspicion of deceit.”

“Too much sympathy is a mistake.”

“We are all of us, in this world, more or less like bunged-up bottles.”