"The secret of the demagogue is to appear as dumb as his audience so that these people can believe themselves as smart as he."

"A news sense is really a sense of what is important, what is vital, what has color and life — what people are interested in. That's journalism."

"I have so often been asked the question: "But how did you come to think of The Scarlet Pimpernel?" And my answer has always been: "It was God's will that I should." And to you moderns, who perhaps do …"

"Why, what a wonderful piece of luck! Here is a red rose! I have never seen any rose like it in all my life. It is so beautiful that I am sure it has a long Latin name."

"The similarity between Christ and Socrates consists essentially in their dissimilarity. Just as philosophy begins with doubt, so also a life that may be called human begins with irony."