I would write of the universal, not the provincial, in human nature.... I would write of characters, not of characteristics.

idealism, that gaudy coloring matter of passion, fades when it is brought beneath the trenchant white light of knowledge. Ideals, like mountains, are best at a distance.

I have little faith in the theory that organized killing is the best prelude to peace.

It is easy to convince a man who already thinks as you do.

The hardest thing for me is the sense of impermanence. All passes; nothing returns.

Cruelty is the only sin.

But youth isn't happy. Youth is sadder than age.