“ Nonsense and beauty have close connections. ”
“ Beauty ought to look a little surprised: it is the emotion that best suits her face. The beauty who does not look surprised, who accepts her position as her due - she reminds us too much of a prima donna. ”
“ Works of art, in my opinion, are the only objects in the material universe to possess internal order, and that is why, though I don't believe that only art matters, I do believe in Art for Art's sake. ”
“ To make us feel small in the right way is a function of art men can only make us feel small in the wrong way. ”
“ Faith, to my mind, is a stiffening process, a sort of mental starch. ”
“ I have no mystic faith in the people. I have in the individual. ”
“ Either life entails courage, or it ceases to be life. ”
“ What is the good of your stars and trees, your sunrise and the wind, if they do not enter into our daily lives? ”
“ We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. ”
“ Love is always being given where it is not required. ”
“ History develops, art stands still. ”
“ The main facts in human life are five: birth, food, sleep, love and death. ”
“ A poem is true if it hangs together. Information points to something else. A poem points to nothing but itself. ”
“ If I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country. ”
“ I am sure that if the mothers of various nations could meet, there would be no more wars. ”
“ The people I respect most behave as if they were immortal and as if society was eternal. ”
“ Charm, in most men and nearly all women, is a decoration. ”
“ Unless we remember we cannot understand. ”
“ One must be fond of people and trust them if one is not to make a mess of life. ”