Sentimentalists ... adopt whatever merit is in good repute, and almost make it hateful with their praise. The warmer their expressions, the colder we feel.... Cure the drunkard, heal the insane, mollify the homicide, civilize the Pawnee, but what lessons can be devised for the debauchee of sentiment?

It depends little on the object, much on the mood, in art.

The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.

The age of a woman doesn't mean a thing. The best tunes are played on the oldest fiddles.

When nature has work to be done, she creates a genius to do it.

Times of heroism are generally times of terror, but the day never shines in which this element may not work.

Every novel is a debtor to Homer.