The Russians will try all the rooms in a house, enter those that are not locked, and when they come to one that cannot be broken into, they will withdraw and invite you to dine genially that same evening.

We have no lasting friends, no lasting enemies, only lasting interests.

I could not raise ten thousand dollars if it would save me from the fate of John Brown. Nor have my friends, so far as I know, yet reached the point of staking any money on my chances of success.

I am never going to have anything more to do with politics or politicians. When this war is over, I shall confine myself entirely to writing and painting.

Politics is almost as exciting as war, and quite as dangerous. In war you can only be killed once, but in politics many times.

Criticism in the body politic is like pain in the human body. It is not pleasant, but where would the body be without it?