The working of great institutions is mainly the result of a vast mass of routine, petty malice, self interest, carelessness and sheer mistake. Only a residual fraction is thought.

If artists and poets are unhappy, it is after all because happiness does not interest them.

It is veneer, rouge, aestheticism, art museums, new theaters, etc. that make America impotent. The good things are football, kindness, and jazz bands.

Since barbarism has its pleasures it naturally has its apologists.

People who feel themselves to be exiles in this world are mightily inclined to believe themselves citizens of another.

I have imagination, and nothing that is real is alien to me.

It is characteristic of spontaneous friendship to take on first, without enquiry and almost at first sight, the unseen doings and unspoken sentiments of our friends; the parts known give us evidence enough that the unknown parts cannot be much amiss.