I am probably responsible for the odd fact that people don't seem to name their daughters Lolita any more. I have heard of young female poodles being given that name since 1956, but of no human beings.

The rich philistinism emanating from advertisements is due not to their exaggerating (or inventing) the glory of this or that serviceable article but to suggesting that the acme of human happiness is purchasable and that its purchase somehow ennobles the purchaser.

The contemplation of beauty, whether it be a uniquely tinted sunset, a radiant face, or a work of art, makes us glance back unwittingly at our personal past and juxtapose ourselves and our inner being with the utterly unattainable beauty revealed to us.

do what only a true artist can do ... pounce upon the forgotten butterfly of revelation

To play safe, I prefer to accept only one type of power: the power of art over trash, the triumph of magic over the brute.

Why do those people guess so much and shave so little, and are so disdainful of hearing aids?

A good laugh is the best pesticide.