The more we feel sorry for ourselves, the less sorry others will feel for us. People don't waste their small store of sympathy on those who can provide it so richly for themselves.

We should all live as if we were never going to die, for it is the deaths of our friends that hurt us, not our own.

The cliche is dead poetry.

We confess our bad qualities to others out of fear of appearing naive or ridiculous by not being aware of them.

One road to happiness is to cultivate curiosity about everything. Not only about people but about subjects, not only about the arts but about history and foreign customs. Not only about countries and cities, but about plants and animals. Not only about lichened rocks and curious markings on the bark of trees, but about stars and atoms. Not only about your friends but about that strange labyrinth we inhabit which we call ourselves. Then, if we do that, we will never suffer a moment's boredom.

One of the marks of a great poet is that he creates his own family of words and teaches them to live together in harmony and to help one another.

Every writer and artist wonders what in the world people of other professions can find to live for.