A painter can hang his pictures, but a writer can only hang himself.

Herman Melville was as separated from a civilized literature as the lost Atlantis was said to have been from the great peoples of the earth.

We cannot live, suffer or die for somebody else, for suffering is too precious to be shared.

When one realizes that his life is worthless he either commits suicide or travels.

Nothing in our times has become so unattractive as virtue.

Recognize the cunning man not by the corpses he pays homage to but by the living writers he conspires against with the most shameful weapon, Silence, or the briefest review.

It takes a long time to understand nothing.

Writing is conscience, scruple, and the farming of our ancestors.

It is very perplexing how an intrepid frontier people, who fought a wilderness, floods, tornadoes, and the Rockies, cower before criticism, which is regarded as a malignant tumor in the imagination.

A strong foe is better than a weak friend.

Narcissus never wrote well nor was a friend.

A man us measured by the depths of his commitments.

There was a man who loved the moon, but whenever he tried to embrace her, she broke into a thousand pieces and left him drenched, with empty arms.

Fashion is a reflection of our times. Fashion can tell you everything that's going on in the world with a strong fashion image.

The fact remains; chauvinism is prevailing.

Whether you agree with me, disagree with me, like me or loathe me, don't bind my hands when I am negotiating on behalf of the British people.

Fear is something I try not to absorb.

Today, I think, the state of philosophizing about democracy is very healthy. It bridges political science and philosophy, as it should.

If soot stains your tunic, dye it black. This is vengeance.

When Cristiano Ronaldo gets the ball, you can just leave him to it while he beats player after player.

As a storyteller I was influenced by the Moscow underground, where it was common to be apolitical.