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.

I adore Chicago. It is the pulse of America.

What would life be without art? Science prolongs life. To consist of what-eating, drinking, and sleeping? What is the good of living longer if it is only a matter of satisfying the requirements that sustain life? All this is nothing without the charm of art.

I refuse the title of artist to those who owe their reputations to a physical deformity. I regard them as buffoons.

Those who know the joys and miseries of celebrities when they have passed the age of forty know how to defend themselves.

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.

Legend remains victorious in spite of history.