A copy of the universe is not what is required of art; one of the damned things is ample. |
A strong hatred is the best lamp to bear in our hands as we go over the dark places of life, cutting away the dead things men tell us to revere. |
All good biography, as all good fiction, comes down to the study of original sin, of our inherent disposition to choose death when we ought to choose life. |
All men should have a drop of treason in their veins, if nations are not to go soft like so many sleepy pears. |
Any authentic work of art must start an argument between the artist and his audience. |
Before a war military science seems a real science, like astronomy; but after a war it seems more like astrology |
But there are other things than dissipation that thicken the features. Tears, for example. |
Did St. Francis preach to the birds? Whatever for? If he really liked birds he would have done better to preach to the cats. |
Everyone realizes that one can believe little of what people say about each other. But it is not so widely realized that even less can one trust what people say about themselves. |
God forbid that any book should be banned. The practice is as indefensible as infanticide. |
Great music is in a sense serene; it is certain of the values it asserts. |
He is every other inch a gentleman. |
Humanity is never more sphinxlike than when it is expressing itself |
I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is; I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat |
I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat or a prostitute. |