It is a good practice to always apologize, except when you have done something wrong.
No author should be considered as having failed until he starts teaching others about writing.
You need to keep reminding yourself of the obvious: charm lies in the unsaid, the unwritten, and the undisplayed. It takes mastery to control silence.
Restaurants get you in with food to sell you liquor; religions get you in with belief to sell you rules.
Don’t complain too loud about wrongs done to you; you may give ideas to your less imaginative enemies.