It is the vice of a vulgar mind to be thrilled by bigness, to think that a thousand square miles are a thousand times more wonderful than one square mile, and that a million square miles are almost the same as heaven.

I believe in teaching people to be individuals, and to understand other individuals.

I only wish the poets would say this too: love is of the body; not the body, but of the the body. Ah! the misery that would be saved if we confessed that! Ah! for a little directness to liberate the soul!

Beethoven's Fifth Symphony is the most sublime noise that has ever penetrated into the ear of man.

One must be fond of people and trust them if one is not to make a mess of life.

To trust people is a luxury in which only the wealthy can indulge; the poor cannot afford it.

As her time in Florence drew to a close she was only at ease amongst those to whom she felt indifferent.