For a year after that was done to me I wept every day at the same hour and for the same space of time. That is not such a tragic thing as possibly it sounds to you. To those who are in prison tears are a part of every day's experience. A day in prison on which one does not weep is a day on which one's heart is hard, not a day on which one's heart is happy.

Women treat us [men] like humanity treats gods – they worship us and keep bothering us to do something.

History is only gossip.

I never put off till tomorrow what I can do the day after.

The form of government that is most suitable to the artist is no government at all. Authority over him and his art is ridiculous.

Thinking is the most unhealthy thing in the world, and people die of it just as they die of any other disease. Fortunately, in England at any rate, thought is not catching.

Great passions are for the great of soul, and great events can be seen only by those who are on a level with them