artists are exposed to great temptations: their eyes see paradise before their souls have reached it, and that is a great danger.

To see a shadow and think it is a tree that is a pity; but to see a tree and to think it a shadow can be fatal.

death ... is not a great affair! Think - it happens once only - to each of us - as birth does. What do you know about being born? that - and no more - will you know about the act of death.

She believed in letting children have a certain amount of rope, and only intervened at the last moment, in order to prevent their hanging themselves by it.

Curses are children of hate; they belong to the wrong family! Prayers are better than curses!

to everything there is an end - except fear.

it is better in the long run to be cheated than to cheat. I have learned that there is no middle way.