"One cannot violate the promptings of one's nature without having that nature recoil upon itself."

"The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time."

"Affluence means influence."

"The scab is a traitor to his God, his mother, and his class."

"A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry as the dog."

"There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise. And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive, and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive."

"Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but sometimes, playing a poor hand well."

"San Francisco is gone. Nothing remains of it but memories."

"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club."

"If cash comes with fame, come fame; if cash comes without fame, come cash."

"I write for no other purpose than to add to the beauty that now belongs to me. I write a book for no other reason than to add three or four hundred acres to my magnificent estate."