[on Sociability In Italy:] You May Be

Flattery Is A Challenge. The Proper Turning Away From It, Undercutting, Diminishing It Without Offense Or Vehemence, Is A Social Grace Sweeter Even Than The Swift Determination To Keep Ahead In The Race Of Hospitality.

I Am Alone Here In New York, No Longer A We.

Letters Are Above All Useful As A Means Of Expressing The Ideal Self; And No Other Method Of Communication Is Quite So Good For This Purpose. In Letters We Can Reform Without Practice, Beg Without Humiliation, Snip And Shape Embarrassing Experiences To The Measure Of Our Own Desires.

Books Give Not Wisdom Where None Was Before. But Where Some Is, There Reading Makes It More.

Now, My Novel Begins. No, Now I Begin My Novel—and Yet I Cannot Decide Whether To Call Myself I Or She.