Civilization is a conspiracy. Modern life is the silent compact of comfortable folk to keep up pretences.
John Buchan

Every man at the bottom of his heart believes that he is a born detective.
John Buchan

He disliked emotion, not because he felt lightly, but because he felt deeply.
John Buchan

Peace is that state in which fear of any kind is unknown.
John Buchan

Prayer opens the heart to God, and it is the means by which the soul, though empty, is filled by God.
John Buchan

The best prayers have often more groans than words.
John Buchan

The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope.
John Buchan

The robe of flesh wears thin, and with the years God shines through all things.
John Buchan

The task of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there.
John Buchan

The true definition of a snob is one who craves for what separates men rather than for what unites them.
John Buchan

There may be Peace without Joy, and Joy without Peace, but the two combined make Happiness.
John Buchan

To live for a time close to great minds is the best kind of education.
John Buchan

We can pay our debts to the past by putting the future in debt to ourselves.
John Buchan

Without humility there can be no humanity.
John Buchan

You think that a wall as solid as the earth separates civilization from barbarism. I tell you the division is a thread, a sheet of glass. A touch here, a push there, and you bring back the reign of Saturn.
John Buchan