We always hope, and in all things it is better to hope than to despair.

Who longs in solitude to live, Ah! soon his wish will gain: Men hope and love, men get and give, and leave him to his pain.

A really great talent finds its happiness in execution.

A great artist... must be shaken by the naked truths that will not be comforted. This divine discontent, this disequilibrium, this state of inner tension is the source of artistic energy.

Nobody, they say, is a hero to his valet. Of course; for a man must be a hero to understand a hero. The valet, I dare say, has great respect for some person of his own stamp.

The universal subjugator, the commonplace.

Man would not be the finest creature in the world if he were not too fine for it.