I have no faith in human perfectability. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active - not more happy - nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago.

The scariest monsters are the ones that lurk within our souls.

Life is for the strong, to be lived by the strong and if need be, taken by the strong. The weak were put on earth to give the strong pleasure.

The death of a beautiful woman, is unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world.

You need not attempt to shake off or to banter off Romance. It is an evil you will never get rid of to the end of your days. It is a part of yourself ... of your soul. Age will only mellow it a little, and give it a holier tone.

Yet, mad am I not — and very surely do I not dream.

There are few cases in which mere popularity should be considered a proper test of merit; but the case of song-writing is, I think, one of the few.