For whence did Dante take the materials for his hell but from this our actual world? And yet he made a very proper hell of it.

The wise have always said the same things, and fools, who are the majority have always done just the opposite.

The business of the novelist is not to relate great events, but to make small ones interesting.

For whence did Dante take the materials for his hell but from this our actual world? And yet he made a very proper hell of it.

A high degree of intellect tends to make a man unsocial.

The fruits of Christianity were religious wars, butcheries, crusades, inquisitions, extermination of the natives of America, and the introduction of African slaves in their place.

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.