To be free it is not enough to beat the system, one must beat the system every day

Cucumber should be well sliced, dressed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out.

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.

Curiosity is one of the most permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect.

Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not.

When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.

Classical quotation is the parole of literary men all over the world.

A man who uses a great many words to express his meaning is like a bad marksman who, instead of aiming a single stone at an object, takes up a handful and throws at it in hopes he may hit.

There are minds so impatient of inferiority that their gratitude is a species of revenge, and they return benefits, not because recompense is a pleasure, but because obligation is a pain.

When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.

He who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition will waste his life in fruitless efforts.

He was painfully shy, which, as is often the manner of the painfully shy, he overcompensated for by being too loud at the wrong times.

A rare, deep and passionate love.

What deserves my loyalty, art or prestige?

Without a heart transformed by the grace of Christ, we just continue to manage external and internal darkness.

I find beauty in the grotesque, like most artists.

You can't live your life through your children.

I mean, is there a chance for me? To have another life after this, a better one?

Italy's youngsters complain, apparently, about having to live at home until they are 72 but that's because they spend all their money on suits and coffee and Alfa Romeos rather than mortgages.

It's interesting to watch people go through it in something like this. I mean, what other then Melancholia films do they portray depression in?

It may take me a long time before I feel 'ready' to tour as a lead singer. I may never be ready... we'll just have to see.