“A man cannot keep a daily record of his comings and goings and the little items that make up the sum of his life, and not inadvertently betray himself at every turn.”

Suggesting that ordinary details recorded honestly reveal character more clearly than formal autobiography · Ponkapog Papers, Leaves from a Note Book (1903)

• Character
• Identity
• Writing

“When he dies, this phantasmal personality fades away, and the author lives only in the impression created by his own literature.”

Arguing that literary work ultimately outlasts the personality and reputation surrounding its creator · Ponkapog Papers, Leaves from a Note Book (1903)

• Death
• Fame
• Literature

“Even frequent dinners of turbot and whitebait at the sign of The Ship and Turtle will not enable one to write sea poetry.”

A comic reminder that literary authenticity cannot be acquired through superficial acquaintance · Essay, Leigh Hunt and Barry Cornwall, in Ponkapog Papers (1903)

• Experience
• Humour
• Poetry