Religion has not civilized man, man has civilized religion.

The church teaches us that we can make God happy by being miserable ourselves.

The undressed is vulgar; the nude is pure, and the well-dressed tainted.

To hate man and worship God seems to be the sum of all the creeds.

The good part of Christmas is not always Christian -- it is generally Pagan; that is to say, human, natural.

The meanest hut with love in it is a palace fit for the gods, and a palace without love is a den only fit for wild beasts.

Language is not subtle enough, tender enough, to express all that we feel; and when language fails, the highest and deepest longings are translated into music. Music is the sunshine - the climate - of the soul, and it floods the heart with a perfect June.