An artist must know the reality he is depicting in its minutest detail. In my opinion we have only one shining example of that - Count Leo Tolstoy.

The best way to keep a prisoner from escaping is to make sure he never knows he's in prison.

Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on earth.

If you wish to glimpse inside a human soul and get to know a man ... just watch him laugh. If he laughs well, he's a good man.

Learning to love is hard and we pay dearly for it. It takes hard work and a long apprenticeship, for it is not just for a moment that we must learn to love, but forever.

People speak sometimes about the "bestial" cruelty of man, but that is terribly unjust and offensive to beasts, no animal could ever be so cruel as a man, so artfully, so artistically cruel.

It is better to be unhappy and know the worst, than to be happy in a fool's paradise.

Nothing is easier than to denounce the evildoer; nothing is more difficult than to understand him.

I think the devil doesn't exist, but man has created him, he has created him in his own image and likeness.

Don’t be overwise; fling yourself straight into life, without deliberation; don’t be afraid - the flood will bear you to the bank and set you safe on your feet again.

The most offensive is not their lying - one can always forgive lying - lying is a delightful thing, for it leads to truth - what is offensive is that they lie and worship their own lying.

Learning, empowering, studying, practicing, and not repeating the same mistakes will help you move forward, move up, and move on to where you want to be.

I always know what to expect of the things of Mother Earth. Sometimes they are cruel, but it is hard, clean cruelty. They don’t torture you with their own weakness.

Inhumanity is part of humanity as much as suffering is a part of stories. Cruelty is written in the human script.

I know that things get worse before they get better because that's what my psychiatrist says, but this is a worse that feels too big.

...up to no good—and pleased about it.

One road leads home and a thousand roads lead into the wilderness.

We are not the end of the gospel; God is.

I'm not sure if it's good to have freedom or not. I'm really confused now.

Ask how to live? Write, write, write, anything; The world's a fine believing world, write news.

I've been a fan of me ever since.