Although all new ideas are born in France, they are not readily adopted there. It seems that they must first commence to prosper in a foreign country.

Permanent success cannot be achieved except by incessant intellectual labour, always inspired by the ideal.

The truth, the absolute truth, is that the chief beauty for the theatre consists in fine bodily proportions.

I have often been asked why I am so fond of playing male parts. As a matter of fact, it is not male parts, but male brains that I prefer.

I adore Chicago. It is the pulse of America.

Once the curtain is raised, the actor is ceases to belong to himself. He belongs to his character, to his author, to his public. He must do the impossible to identify himself with the first, not to betray the second, and not to disappoint the third.

The artist's personality must be left in his dressing-room; his soul must be denuded of its own sensations and clothed with the base or noble qualities he is called upon to exhibit.... [he] must leave behind him the cares and vexations of life, throw aside his personality for several hours, and move in the dream of another life, forgetting everything.