If the poor only had profiles there would be no difficulty in solving the problem of poverty

It is absurd to say that there are neither ruins nor curiosities in America when they have their mothers and their manners.

She had a passion for secrecy, but she herself was merely a Sphinx without a secret.

There is no sin except stupidity.

The beautiful, passionate, ruined South, the land of magnolias and music, of roses and romance . . . living on the memory of crushing defeats

All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril. Those who read the symbol do so at their peril. It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors. Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital. When critics disagree, the artist is in accord with himself.

The worst slave owners were those who were kind to their slaves