Honore de Balzac

Bureaucracy is a giant mechanism operated by pygmies.

Manners are the hypocrisy of a nation.

If we could but paint with the hand what we see with the eye.

For many young women, the dream of independence and a home of their own is a tantalising goal, while a lifetime devoted solely to catering for another person's needs would be hard to countenance.

You have to have really wide reading habits and pay attention to the news and just everything that's going on in the world: you need to. If you get this right, then the writing is a piece of cake.

Acting is a masochistic form of exhibitionism. It is not quite the occupation of an adult.