If the propositions of this Discourse are tenable, the "state of progressive collapse" is precisely that state in which alone we are warranted in considering All Things.

When a madman appears thoroughly sane, indeed, it is high time to put him in a straight jacket.

The mere imitation, however accurate, of what is in Nature, entitles no man to the sacred name of Artist

As a viewed myself in a fragment of looking-glass..., I was so impressed with a sense of vague awe at my appearance ... that I was seized with a violent tremour.

Man is an animal that diddles, and there is no animal that diddles but man.

There are certain themes of which the interest is all-absorbing, but which are too entirely horrible for the purposes of legitimate fiction.

If we cannot comprehend God in his visible works, how then in his inconceivable thoughts, that call the works into being?