If the Italian is the most passionate lover in the world, it may be because he is the most restrained. Rigid convention denies him all contact with the lovelier girls, who never are free from chaperons.

I used to go to the stables and fool with the mules. My mother lived in constant fear that I might be brought home with a hoof print on my stomach.

My father happened to be a doctor, and though I loved and idealized him privately, professionally I never had any use for him or anyone connected with that science.

To generalize on women is dangerous. To specialize on them is infinitely worse.

The loneliest ebb of my life came on that Christmas eve, only one day after my arrival in New York. The abyss of loneliness. I ate a solitary dinner in a small cafe, and the very food tasted bitter with my unshed tears. One doesn't dare cry in America. It is unmanly here.