To delight in war is a merit in the soldier, a dangerous quality in the captain, and a positive crime in the statesman.

Trust the man who hesitates in his speech and is quick and steady in action, but beware of long arguments and long beards.

History is a pack of lies about events that never happened told by people who weren't there.

The degree in which a poet's imagination dominates reality is, in the end, the exact measure of his importance and dignity.

The lover knows much more about absolute good and universal beauty than any logician or theologian, unless the latter, too, be lovers in disguise.

Do not have evil-doers for friends, do not have low people for friends: have virtuous people for friends, have for friends the best of men.

The world is not respectable; it is mortal, tormented, confused, deluded forever; but it is shot through with beauty, with love, with glints of courage and laughter; and in these, the spirit blooms timidly, and struggles to the light amid the thorns.