Why has my motley diary no jokes? Because it is a soliloquy and every man is grave alone.

Always do what you are afraid to do.

All writing is by the grace of God. People do not deserve to have good writing, they are so pleased with bad. In these sentences that you show me, I can find no beauty, for I see death in every clause and every word. There is a fossil or a mummy character which pervades this book. The best sepulchers, the vastest catacombs, Thebes and Cairo, Pyramids, are sepulchers to me. I like gardens and nurseries. Give me initiative, spermatic, prophesying, man-making words.

Why has my motley diary no jokes? Because it is a soliloquy and every man is grave alone.

Life is a series of surprises and would not be worth taking or keeping if it were not.

Silence is a solvent that destroys personality, and gives us leave to be great and universal.

Let the bird sing without deciphering the song.