Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.

Marco Polo had seen the inhabitants of Zipangu place rose-colored pearls in the mouths of the dead. A sea-monster had been enamoured of the pearl that the diver brought to King Perozes, and had slain the thief, and mourned for seven moons over its loss.

Education is very admirable but let us not forget that anything worth knowing cannot be taught.

The imagination imitates. It is the critical spirit that creates.

Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.

All charming people, I fancy, are spoiled. It is the secret of their attraction.

My desire to live is as intense as ever, and though my heart is broken, hearts are made to be broken: that is why God sends sorrow into the world.