German civility, which often seems stiff to us, shows an attentive and touching respect for the person that I often prefer to our offhandedness.

It matters less to venerate things than to live with them on terms of good friendship.

Our present-day artists do not transform, they deform. That gives pleasure to nobody. It changes everything, therefore it changes nothing.

I am not sure that Christ would have been very satisfied to foresee that He would be looked upon principally as a redeemer and nailed forever upon the cross by human ignorance. It seems to me that He above all desired to bring men a message of truth, that He wanted to heal them of their faults by making an appeal to all their energy; He shook them as much as He could, He did not seek to spare them the trouble.

Unkindness almost always stands for the displeasure that one has in oneself.

For the last six or seven years the circus has no longer been in fashion. That is a pity. One should go to the circus, beyond any question of fashion, at least one or two times a year-I am not speaking here to the real enthusiasts, they know better than I what they have to do.

German civility, which often seems stiff to us, shows an attentive and touching respect for the person that I often prefer to our offhandedness.