When hospitality becomes an art it loses its very soul.

Not philosophy, after all, not humanity, just sheer joyous power of song, is the primal thing in poetry.

It seems to be a law of nature that no man, unless he has some obvious physical deformity, ever is loth to sit for his portrait.

The dullard's envy of brilliant men is always assuaged by the suspicion that they will come to a bad end.

Men prominent in life are mostly hard to converse with. They lack small-talk, and at the same time one doesn't like to confront them with their own great themes.

To destroy is still the strongest instinct of our nature.

The loveliest face in all the world will not please you if you see it suddenly eye to eye, at a distance of half an inch from your own.