Doesn't all experience crumble in the end to mere literary material?

I revolted from sentimentality, less because it was false than because it was cruel.

marriage is mostly puttin' up with things, I reckon, when it ain't makin' believe.

One cannot lay a foundation by scattering stones, nor is a reputation for good work to be got by strewing volumes about the world.

Mediocrity would always win by force of numbers, but it would win only more mediocrity.

I hated the things they believe in, the things they so innocently and charmingly pretended. I hated the sanctimonious piety that let people hurt helpless creatures. I hated the prayers and the hymns - the fountains and the red images that coloured their drab music, the fountains filled with blood, the sacrifice of the lamb.

Give the young half a chance and they will create their own future, they will even create their own heaven and earth.