whatever a work of art may be, the artist certainly cannot dare to be simple. He must have a nature as complicated and as violent, as totally unsuggestive of the word innocence, as a modern war.

the bad is more easily perceived than the good. A fresh lobster does not give such pleasure to the consumer as a stale one will give him pain.

Did St. Francis preach to the birds? Whatever for? If he really liked birds he would have done better to preach to the cats.

Christianity must be regarded not as a final revelation but as a phase of revelation.

The unsuccessful bully can always become the father of a family.

Unhappy people are dangerous.

Motherhood is the strangest thing, it can be like being one's own Trojan horse.