“Keep things at arm's length… If you let anything come too near you want to hold on to it. And there is nothing a man can hold on to.”

“You can have anything you want if you want it badly enough. You can be anything you want to be, do anything you set out to accomplish if you hold to that desire with singleness of purpose.”

“Prudent readers will do well to hold Three Weeks at arm's length, unless they want to be cut by flying adjectives.”

“These arms of mine,
They are lonely.
Lonely and feeling blue.
These arms of mine,
They are yearning.
Yearning from wanting you.
And if you would let them hold you,
Oh how grateful I will be.”

“Of course, you can sit down and have something you want to say. But then you must let its expression be born in you and on the paper. Don't hold too tight; allow it to come out how it needs to rather than trying to control it.”

“Man is an obstacle, sad as the clown
(Oh by jingo)
So hold on to nothing, and he won't let you down.”

“If my love can hold you, I'll keep you with me.”

“You must read Plato. But you must hold him at arm's length and say, 'Plato, you have delighted and edified mankind for two thousand years. What have you to say to me?”

“… he came to the conclusion that you cannot depend on people, and that you can live in peace only if you keep them at arm's length.”

“If a man wants you, nothing can keep him away. If he doesn't want you, nothing can make him stay.”