We are all serving a life sentence in the dungeon of the self.
The past is the only dead thing that smells sweet.
Vulgarity is the garlic in the salad of charm.
When young we are faithful to individuals, when older we grow loyal to situations and to types.
The goal of every culture is to decay through over-civilization; the factors of decadence, -- luxury, skepticism, weariness and superstition, -- are constant. The civilization of one epoch becomes the manure of the next.
The true function of a writer is to produce a masterpiece and no other task is of any consequence.