When a person hasn't in him that which is higher and stronger than all external influences, it is enough for him to catch a good cold in order to lose his equilibrium and begin to see an owl in every bird, to hear a dog's bark in every sound.

But if you had asked him what his work was, he would look candidly and openly at you with his large bright eyes through his gold pincenez, and would answer in a soft, velvety, lisping baritone: "My work is literature."

I promise to be a splendid husband, but give me a wife who, like the moon, won't in my sky every day...

I can only regard with bewilderment an educated man who is also religious

I expect I shall be a student to the end of my days.

Your talent sets you apart: if you were a toad or a tarantula, even then, people would respect you, for to talent all things are forgiven.

He who desires nothing, hopes for nothing, and is afraid of nothing, cannot be an artist.