Always 'duty.' I am sick of the word. They are a lot of old blockheads in flannel vests and of old women with foot-warmers and rosaries who constantly drone into our ears 'Duty, duty!' Ah! by Jove! one's duty is to feel what is great, cherish the beautiful, and not accept all the conventions of society with the ignominy that it imposes upon us.

Sentences must stir in a book like leaves in a forest, each distinct from each despite their resemblance.

Me and my books in the same apartment, like a gherkin in its vinegar.

They took each other's advice, opened one book, went over to another, then did not know what to decide when opinions diverged so widely.

I have dreamed much and have done very little.

A man is a critic when he cannot be an artist, in the same way that a man becomes an informer when he cannot be a soldier.

The more you approach infinity, the deeper you penetrate terror