There's only one passion in most artists more violent than their desire for admiration: their fear of identifying the nature of such admiration as they do receive.

When a man attempts to deal with me by force, I answer him, by force.

If you want to know the one reason that's taking me back, I'll tell you: I cannot bring myself to abandon to destruction all the greatness of the world, all that which was mine and yours, which was made by us and is still ours by right - because I cannot believe that men refuse to see, that they can remain blind and deaf to us forever, when the truth is ours and their lives depend on accepting it.

You can ignore reality, but you can't ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.

It's easy to run to others. It's so hard to stand on one's own record. You can fake virtue for an audience. You can't fake it in your own eyes. Your ego is your strictest judge. They run from it. They spend their lives running. It's easier to donate a few thousand to charity and think oneself noble than to base self-respect on personal standards of personal achievement. It's simple to seek substitutes for competence--such easy substitutes: love, charm, kindness, charity. But there is no substitute for competence.

My dear fellow, who will let you?" "That's not the point. The point is, who will stop me?

Nobody has ever given a reason why men should be their brother's keepers.