Did any great genius ever enter the world in the wake of commonplace pre-natal conditions? Was a maker of history ever born amidst the pleasant harmonies of a satisfied domesticity? Of a mother who was less than remarkable, although she may have escaped being great? Did a woman with no wildness in her blood ever inform a brain with electric fire? The students of history know that while many mothers of great men have been virtuous, none have been commonplace, and few have been happy.

The very commonplaces of life are components of its eternal mystery.

... France is the genius among nations.

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.

If you can't get the very best in this world, take nothing.

In times of panic man seems to exchange his soul for a tail.

To put a tempting face aside when duty demands every faculty is a lesson which takes most men longest to learn.