But yet I am firmly persuaded that a great deal of consciousness, every sort of consciousness, in fact, is a disease.

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.

When an artist paints a flower, she borrows the beauty from nature and adds fragrance from her own heart.

So she's one of the grande dames of fandom? The Madame de Staël of the Starveil world?

Getting money is easy but do you have the education that will help maintain it?

That’s the thing about things. They tend to happen.

Mythology is a vast body of knowledge that has not been tapped.

When I was 10, I beat up the school bully. His arms were in casts. That's what gave me the courage.

Happiness is not based on possessions, power or prestige, but on relationships with people you love and respect.

I like that New York sensibility where you can be edgy, but still super-glamorous.

I had a lovely, feral, free childhood - out and then come back when you're hungry or it gets too dark. I feel slightly cruel that I'm not offering my children the same.

You can't do a fine thing without having seen fine examples.