From this, without doubt, sprang the fable. Man created it thus, because it was not given him to see more than himself and nature, which surrounds him; but he created it true with a truth all its own.

Do you not see with your own eyes the chrysalis fact assume by degrees the wings of fiction?

I have a private theory, Sir, that there are no heroes and no monsters in this world. Only children should be allowed to use these words

Poetry is the disease of the brain.

Silence alone is great; all else is feebleness . . . Perform with all your heart your long and heavy task. . . . Then as do I, say naught, but suffer and die.

Greatness is the dream of youth realized in old age.

Oh, I have a habit of letting myself be lectured on the things I know best. I like to see if they are understood in the same way I understand; for there are many ways of knowing the same thing