Style is the physiognomy of the mind. It is more infallible than that of the body. To imitate the style of another is said to be wearing a mask. However beautiful it may be, it is through its lifelessness insipid and intolerable, so that even the most ugly living face is more engaging.

Noise is the most impertinent of all forms of interruption. It is not only an interruption, but also a disruption of thought.

The mother of useful arts is necessity; that of the fine arts is luxury. For father the former has intellect; the latter genius, which itself is a kind of luxury.

You must treat a work of art like a great man: stand before it and wait patiently till it deigns to speak.

Pantheism is only a polite form of atheism.

The less one, as a result of objective or subjective conditions, has to come into contact with people, the better off one is for it.

There is no more mistaken path to happiness than worldliness, revelry, high life.