[A] decade of shame seemed to be ending in light and reason, [...] the Enemy was plain in view, huge and hateful, all disguise cast off; the modern age in arms. |
Aesthetic value is often the by-product of the artist striving to do something else |
All this fuss about sleeping together. For physical pleasure I'd sooner go to my dentist any day. |
Almost all crime is due to the repressed desire for aesthetic expression. |
Anyone who has been to an English public school will always feel comparatively at home in prison. It is the people brought up in the gay intimacy of the slums who find prison so soul-destroying. |
Art is the symbol of the two noblest human efforts: to construct and to refrain from destruction. |
Don't give your opinions about Art and the Purpose of Life. They are of little interest and, anyway, you can't express them. Don't analyze yourself. Give the relevant facts and let your readers make their own judgments. Stick to your story. It is not the most important subject in history but it is one about which you are uniquely qualified to speak. |
Don't hold your parents up to contempt. After all, you are their son, and it is just possible that you may take after them. |
He was gifted with the sly, sharp instinct for self-preservation that passes for wisdom among the rich. |
His courtesy was somewhat extravagant. He would write and thank people who wrote to thank him for wedding presents and when he encountered anyone as punctilious as himself the correspondence ended only with death. |
I came to the conclusion many years ago that almost all crime is due to the repressed desire for aesthetic expression |
I expect you'll be becoming a schoolmaster, sir. That's what most of the gentlemen does, sir, that gets sent down for indecent behaviour. |
I haven't been to sleep for over a year. That's why I go to bed early. One needs more rest if one doesn't sleep. |
I put the words down and push them a bit. |
I think to be oversensitive about cliches is like being oversensitive about table manners. |