I can sympathize with everything, except suffering.

The essence of thought, as the essence of life, is growth.

People are very fond of giving away what they need most themselves. It is what I call the depth of generosity.

The reason we all like to think so well of others is that we are all afraid for ourselves. The basis of optimism is sheer terror.

The tragedy of growing old is not that one is old but that one is young.

Youth is the only thing worth having.

It is sometimes said that the tragedy of an artist's life is that he cannot realise his ideal. But the true tragedy that dogs the steps of most artists is that they realise their ideal too absolutely. For, when the ideal is realised, it is robbed of its wonder and its mystery, and becomes simply a new starting-point for an ideal that is other than itself.