What holy cities are to nomadic tribes — a symbol of race and a bond of union — great books are to the wandering souls of men: they are the Meccas of the mind.

Is there not an art, a music, and a stream of words that shalt be life, the acknowledged voice of life?

Words are intermediary between thought and things. We express ourselves really not through words, which are only signs, but through what they signify - through things.

I seldom deal in symbolisms; if there be hidden meanings in my verse, they are there without my knowledge.

To be faithful to your instincts and the impulses that carry you in the direction of the excellence you most desire and value ... surely that is to lead the noble life.

Our understanding of Shakespeare already depends largely on the vitality of Renaissance elements in our education. Each man must live in his own generation, as the saying is; but the generations are bound together by the golden links of the great tradition of civilization.

The school of life embodies a compulsory education that no man escapes.