America is supposed to be given over to ugliness. There are a good many ugly things there and the ugliest are the most pretentious.

Rich by nature, poor by policy' might be written over Canada's door.

The insular arrogance of the English character is a commonplace joke.

No student of history can fail to see the moral interest of the Middle Ages, any more than an artist can fail to see their aesthetic interest.

Yet for my part, deeply as I am moved by the religious architecture of the Middle Ages, I cannot honestly say that I ever felt the slightest emotion in any modern Gothic church.

Dante himself is open to the suspicion of partiality: it is said, not without apparent ground, that he puts into hell all the enemies of the political cause, which, in his eyes, was that of Italy and God.

Art is expression, and to have high expression you must have something high to express.