The more we are proud that the Bethlehem story is plain enough to be understood by the shepherds, and almost by the sheep, the more do we let ourselves go, in dark and gorgeous imaginative frescoes or pageants about the mystery and majesty of the Three Magian Kings.

It is the friction of two spiritual things, of tradition and invention, or of substance and symbol, from which the mind takes fire. The creeds condemned as complex have something like the secret of sex; they can breed thoughts.

We are justified in enforcing good morals, for they belong to all mankind; but we are not justified in enforcing good manners, for good manners always mean our own manners.

The greenhorn is the ultimate victor in everything; it is he that gets the most out of life.

The atheist is not interested in anything except attacks on atheism.

In a world flagrant with the failures of civilization, what is there particularly immortal about our own?

Every politician is emphatically a promising politician.