Humanity is the rich effluvium, it is the waste and the manure and the soil, and from it grows the tree of the arts.

The act of bell ringing is symbolic of all proselytizing religions. It implies the pointless interference with the quiet of other people.

The Image is more than an idea. It is a vortex or cluster of fused ideas and is endowed with energy.

Genius... is the capacity to see ten things where the ordinary man sees one.

Colloquial poetry is to the real art as the barber's wax dummy is to sculpture.

The technique of infamy is to start two lies at once and get people arguing heatedly over which is the truth.

As a bathtub lined with white porcelain, When the hot water gives out or goes tepid, So is the slow cooling of our chivalrous passion, O my much praised but-not-altogether-satisfactory lady.

The ant's a centaur in his dragon world.

All great art is born of the metropolis.

'Tis the white stag, Fame, we're a-hunting, bid the world's hounds come to horn!

What matters is not the idea a man holds, but the depth at which he holds it.

Human hearts are made to bleed at the sight a precious item destroyed, irrespective of who owns the item.

I always prefer photographing in available light – or Rembrandt-light I like to call it – so you get the natural modulations of the face. It makes a more alive, real, and flattering portrait.

Unions should not be lapdogs to a political party, they should be watchdogs for their members interests.

There is an appalling amount of mechanical work in the artist's life ... Talent is mysterious, but the qualities that guard, foster, and direct it are not unlike those of a good quartermaster.

I'm a total luddite when it comes to technology. Pretending I know how to use a computer is a challenge.

It's okay to be afraid. It's not okay to let the fear STOP you.

Once you eliminate quality as a requirement, the entire design process becomes a whole lot easier.

The technology is not only the way we change stories, but also changing the relationship to the consumer.

Hurricane Katrina exposed the harsh reality that we have been skating on thin ice when it comes to this country's energy concentrations on the Gulf Coast.

I don't think I began to be a professional writer until I learned my weaknesses and what I couldn't do. This forced me to compensate.