We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely.All art is quite useless.

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.

We are a fallen species, spitting on the gift of salvation. Humanity is irredeemable.

People don’t need you to fix them, they are not broken, just serve them.

To become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them.

A man should live with his superiors as he does with his fire: not too near, lest he burn; nor too far off, lest he freeze.

Because muscle is heavier than fat, dancers weigh more than you might think, but they are usually very lean.

France is the most civilized country in the world and doesn’t care who knows it.

Instead of fretting about getting everything done, why not simply accept that being alive means having things to do? Then drop into full engagement with whatever you're doing, and let the worry go.

Stories are made up by people who make them up. If they work, they get retold. There's the magic of it.

For 'Hidalgo,' I just spent as much time around horses as I could, which made sense.

Sadly, some folks want others to feel their pain, to hurt as much as they do-or more. My grandmother once told me to avoid colds and angry people whenever I could. It's sound advice.