There is no tyranny so hateful as a vulgar and anonymous tyranny. It is all-permeating, all-thwarting; it blasts every budding novelty and sprig of genius with its omnipresent and fierce stupidity. Such a headless people has the mind of a worm and the claws of a dragon.

To be happy you must have taken the measure of your powers, tasted the fruits of your passion, and learned your place in the world.

To be an American is of itself almost a moral condition, an education, and a career.

There is a kind of courtesy in skepticism. It would be an offense against polite conventions to press our doubts too far.

Periods of tranquillity are seldom prolific of creative achievement. Mankind has to be stirred up.

The line between what is known scientifically and what has to be assumed in order to support knowledge is impossible to draw. Memory itself is an internal rumour.

Old places and old persons in their turn, when spirit dwells in them, have an intrinsic vitality of which youth is incapable, precisely, the balance and wisdom that come from long perspectives and broad foundations