Man is many things, but he is not rational.

I don't want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.

Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic.

The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.

Oh, brothers! I don't care for brothers. My elder brother won't die, and my younger brothers seem never to do anything else.

If a man treats life artistically, his brain is his heart.

What fire does not destroy, it hardens

All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril.

Whenever a man does a thoroughly stupid thing, it is always from the noblest motives.

Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter.

The basis of optimism is sheer terror.

Employment deprives you of innovations

As a historical novelist, there are few jobs more retrospective.

One thing worse than self-hatred is chiggers.

Balance, that's the secret. Moderate extremism. The best of both worlds.

[Censors are] people with secret attractions to various temptations... They are defending themselves under the pretext of defending others, because at heart they fear their own weaknesses.

I believe in perpetual art, no matter if there are not many artists like me on this earth.

To achieve something you have never achieved before you must become someone you have never been.

George Washington hated the guerrillas. He wanted to imitate the British red coat armies, fighting as gentlemen are supposed to fight.

It is only by means of purity of mind can you come close to the Lord.

Men give the same lines to different women for the same reason women wear the same perfume for different men; we all try the things that work.