Be prepared to go mad with fixed rule and method.

Choose a subject equal to your abilities; think carefully what your shoulders may refuse, and what they are capable of bearing.

Never inquire into another man's secret; bur conceal that which is intrusted to you, though pressed both be wine and anger to reveal it.

He will often have to scratch his head, and bite his nails to the quick. [To succeed he will have to puzzle his brains and work hard.]

Death is the ultimate boundary of human matters.

I can never forget suffering and I will never forget sunset. I came home with all of it in my mind.

Poetry is like painting: one piece takes your fancy if you stand close to it, another if you keep at some distance.