“Ideas may drift into other minds, but they do not drift my way. I have to go and fetch them.” On the discipline required to summon inspiration rather than wait for it · Essay, on the craft of writing Art
“What distinguishes Cambridge from Oxford, broadly speaking, is that nobody who has been to Cambridge feels impelled to write about it.” A dry piece of undergraduate humour from his memoir · It's Too Late Now: The Autobiography of a Writer, p.100 Wit
“I gave up writing children's books. I wanted to escape from them as I had once wanted to escape from Punch: as I have always wanted to escape. In vain.” His rueful sense of being typecast by his own success · It's Too Late Now: The Autobiography of a Writer, 1939 Art Fame
“I suppose that every one of us hopes secretly for immortality; to leave, I mean, a name behind him which will live forever in this world.” A candid admission about the wish to be remembered · It's Too Late Now: The Autobiography of a Writer, 1939 Fame Mortality
“Childhood is not the happiest time of one's life, but only to a child is pure happiness possible.” A clear-eyed correction of nostalgic sentiment about childhood · It's Too Late Now: The Autobiography of a Writer, 1939 Childhood Joy
“A writer wants something more than money for his work: he wants permanence.” On the deeper ambition beneath a writing life · Autobiography, It's Too Late Now Art Fame
“The third-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the majority. The second-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the minority. The first-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking.” A wry hierarchy of independent thought · It's Too Late Now: The Autobiography of a Writer, 1939 Art Truth
“War is something of man's own fostering, and if all mankind renounces it, then it is no longer there.” His pacifist conviction that war is a human choice, not an inevitability · Peace with Honour, 1934 Hope War
“Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” Offering reassurance about hidden courage and self-worth · Prose, Winnie-the-Pooh Childhood Hope Truth
“A day without a friend is like a pot without a single drop of honey left inside.” Emphasising friendship as a source of daily nourishment and joy · Prose, Winnie-the-Pooh Friendship Joy
“Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.” Encouraging patience and trust in the course of life · Prose, Winnie-the-Pooh Hope Nature Time
“Any day spent with you is my favourite day. So, today is my new favourite day.” Finding happiness in companionship and the present moment · Prose, Winnie-the-Pooh Friendship Joy Time
“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” Presenting grief as evidence of a deeply valued bond · Prose, Winnie-the-Pooh Death Friendship Memory
“Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.” Celebrating the emotional importance of seemingly small things · Prose, Winnie-the-Pooh Love Memory
“If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you.” Expressing the depth of enduring friendship and love · Prose, Winnie-the-Pooh Friendship Love Time
“One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.” Finding creative possibility in spontaneity and disorder · Autobiographical prose, commonly attributed Art Joy
