The ups and downs of this cosmos may sometimes be acknowledged to be metaphorical ups and downs, but until about Newton's time most people took the "up" of heaven and the "down" of hell to be more or less descriptive.

Literature is a human apocalypse, man's revelation to man, and criticism is not a body of adjudications, but the awareness of that revelation, the last judgement of mankind.

Advertising - a judicious mixture of flattery and threats.

Separatism is a very healthy movement within culture. It's a disastrous movement within politics and economics.

The pursuit of beauty is much more dangerous nonsense than the pursuit of truth or goodness, because it affords a stronger temptation to the ego.

Literature is not a subject of study, but an object of study.

A person who knows nothing about literature may be an ignoramus, but many people don't mind being that.