They had nothing in common but the English language.

I have only got down on to paper, really, three types of people: the person I think I am, the people who irritate me, and the people I'd like to be.

The people I admire most are those who are sensitive and want to create something or discover something, and do not see life in terms of power.

My law-givers are Erasmus and Montaigne, not Moses and St Paul.

Love and understand the Italians, for the people are more marvellous than the land.

I distrust Great Men... I believe in aristocracy, though... Its members are to be found in all nations and classes, and all through the ages, and there is a secret understanding between them when they meet... They are sensitive for others as well as for themselves, they are considerate without being fussy, their pluck is not swankiness but the power to endure, and they can take a joke.

Works of art, in my opinion, are the only objects in the material universe to possess internal order, and that is why, though I don't believe that only art matters, I do believe in Art for Art's sake.