Better extirpate the whole breed, root and branch. And this, unless the German people come to their senses, is what we propose to do.

orthodoxy is a fixed habit of mind. The average man and woman hug their orthodoxies and spit their venom on those that outrage them.

I want books written out of a brain and heart and soul crowded and vital with Life, spelled with a big L. I want poetry bursting with passion. I don't care a hang for the 'verbal felicities.' They'll do for the fringe, but I want the garment to warm me first.

No country can reach a high stage of civilization without a leisure class.

genius must ever be imperfect. Life is not long enough nor slow enough for both brain and character to grow side by side to superhuman proportions.

... books are too heterogeneous an interest to furnish a vital one in life, a reason for being alive.

Every leader of a great revolution is a fanatic and a Jesuit.