Any man who does not see everything in terms of self, that is to say who wants to be something in respect of other men, to do good to them or simply give them something to do, is unhappy, disconsolate, and accursed.

A poet is a man who puts up a ladder to a star and climbs it while playing a violin.

There have been many definitions of beauty in art. What is it? Beauty is what the untrained eyes consider abominable.

As a general truth, it is safe to say that any picture that produces a moral impression is a bad picture.

Genius is the talent of a person who is dead.

People don't like the true and simple; they like fairy tales and humbug.

Historians tell the story of the past, novelists the story of the present.