
He was acute and biting and poisonously funny, but all this was defensive. Of course, exactly what frustrations he was defending I cannot be sure and exactly what personal Grail he pursued I cannot tell. He was a man who was in flight and in pursuit at the same time; no great wonder that his path was erratic, like some comet tugged by both the earth and the sun.
Lionel Barrymore on his brother John Barrymore | We Barrymores