The best argument is an undeniably good book.

The more realistic you are the more you threaten the grounds of your own art.

Alternatives, and particularly desirable alternatives, grow only on imaginary trees.

De Tocqueville considered the impulse toward well-being as one of the strongest impulses of a democratic society. He can't be blamed for underestimating the destructive powers generated by this same impulse.

The challenge of modern freedom, or the combination of isolation and freedom which confronts you, is to make yourself up. The danger is that you may emerge from the process as a not-entirely-human creature. (Referenced in How to Lose Friends and Alienate People by Toby Young)

People don't realize how much they are in the grip of ideas. We live among ideas much more than we live in nature.

Conquered people tend to be witty.