The ultimate justification of the work of art is to help the spectator to become a work of art himself.

As I got warmed up, and felt perfectly at home in talk, I heard myself boasting, lying, exaggerating. Oh, not deliberately, far from it. It would be unconvivial and dull to stop and arrest the flow of talk, and speak only after carefully considering whether I was telling the truth.

[Describing his house:] It is a library with living rooms attached.

Miracles happen to those who believe in them.

Pessimism like calumny is easy to do, and attracts immediate attention. The gossiper and the writer may find this out soon enough, and a little encouragement from the current mood will procure them successes that bring endless imitators in their trail. On the other hand saying good things about life in general and individuals in particular and making it interesting is a serious task which few can achieve with credit.

Boast is always a cry of despair, except in the young it is a cry of hope.

International affairs will be placed on a better footing when it is understood that there is no way of punishing a people for the crimes of its rulers.