I am sorry my life is so marred and maimed by extravagance. But I cannot live otherwise. I, at any rate, pay the penalty of suffering.

He is really not so ugly after all, provided, of course, that one shuts one's eyes, and does not look at him.

Ultimately the bond of all companionship, whether in marriage or in friendship, is conversation.

Bad artists always admire each other's work. They call it being large-minded and free from prejudice. But a truly great artist cannot conceive of life being shown, or beauty fashioned, under any conditions other than those he has selected.

Arguments are to be avoided: they are always vulgar and often convincing.

We live in an age that reads too much to be wise, and that thinks too much to be beautiful.

To give an accurate description of what has never occurred is not merely the proper occupation of the historian, but the inalienable privilege of any man of parts and culture.