That a literature in our time is living is shown in that way that it debates problems.

I was not afraid of what I did not like. To overcome dislike of a thing often satisfied one's feeling of honour.

But when I was twelve years old I caught my first strong glimpse of one of the fundamental forces of existence, whose votary I was destined to be for life - namely, Beauty.

On the whole, the world was friendly. It chiefly depended on whether one were good or not.

A love for humanity came over me, and watered and fertilised the fields of my inner world which had been lying fallow, and this love of humanity vented itself in a vast compassion.

I encountered among my comrades the most varied human traits, from frankness to reserve, from goodness, uprightness and kindness, to brutality and baseness.

Any feeling that I was enriching my mind from those surrounding me was unfortunately rare with me.