To be surprised, to wonder, is to begin to understand. This is the sport, the luxury, special to the intellectual man.

The preoccupation with what should be is estimable only when the respect for what is has been exhausted.

The metaphor is probably the most fertile power possessed by man

The common man, finding himself in a world so excellent, technically and socially, believes it has been produced by nature, and never thinks of the personal efforts of highly endowed individuals which the creation of this new world presupposed. Still less will he admit the notion that all these facilities still require the support of certain difficult human virtues, the least failure of which would cause the rapid disappearance of the whole magnificent edifice.

The trend towards pure art betrays not arrogance, as is often thought, but modesty. Art that has rid itself of human pathos is a thing without consequence.

Life is a series of collisions with the future; it is not the sum of what we have been, but what we yearn to be.

Our firmest convictions are apt to be the most suspect; they mark our limitations and our bounds. Life is a petty thing unless it is moved by the indomitable urge to extend its boundaries.