There were poisons so subtle that to know their properties one had to sicken of them. There were maladies so strange that one had to pass through them if one sought to understand their nature.

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.

The only good understanding is to obey the God's commandment.

you have everything. still, you have nothing . sad .

She didn't know how to hate her mother yet, but every time she left her father crying in the airport she came that much closer to figuring it out.

Lady's mouth tasted like blood and iron all the time now. It tasted like defeat.

I tried to write how I felt. The pen remained frozen. The paper stayed white and empty, while my brain was dark and full

My dad was a tyrant. He used to physically beat the crap out of us.

If anybody laughs at your idea, view it as a sign of potential success!

The prince must be a lion, but he must also know how to play the fox.

I still believe in this country, that it can fulfill the destiny Blake and Whitman envisioned. I still believe in American poetry.

I haven't lost my innocence particularly. I'm always ready to pretend I haven't. Yeah, it is a shame in a way.