“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

“What a hero of fiction does paints him better than what he says, and vastly better than anything his creator may say of him.”

Maintaining that character is most powerfully revealed through action rather than explanation · Essay, Plot and Character, in Ponkapog Papers (1903)

• Character
• Literature
• Writing

“To place a man in permanent absolute control of a certain number of pages, in which to express his opinions, is to place him in a position of great personal danger.”

Warning that unchecked authority to judge others can distort a critic's sense of his own importance · Ponkapog Papers, Leaves from a Note Book (1903)

• Character
• Criticism
• Humility