The mutilation of the savage has its tragic survival in the self-denial that mars our lives.

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.

Don't make fun of people who are different. Unless they have more money and influence. Then you must

These are my habits and the way I spend my life: studying literature.

It really matters when the work we are doing doesn't.

I think fracking for gas will reduce the incentive to turn to renewables, and I think it will do a lot of other damage across the countryside.

At the Throne of Glory it is not the nobly-born that are beloved, but the nobly-risen.

God answers prayer in His own way, not ours.

It is one thing to read about the world, but quite another to see and hear for oneself.

Usually a person relates to another under the tacit assumption thatthe other shares his view of reality, that indeed there is only onereality.

There is only one sin - lack of love. Be brave, be capable of loving, even if love seems a terrible and treacherous thing. Find joy in love. Find joy in victory. Follow the dictates of your heart.

You can get used to anything - haven't I already said that? Isn't that what all survivors say?