The true men of action in our time, those who transform the world, are not the politicians and statesmen, but the scientists

Whatever the field under discussion, those who engage in debate must not only believe in each other's good faith, but also in their capacity to arrive at the truth.

Every man carries with him through life a mirror, as unique and impossible to get rid of as his shadow.

You shall love your crooked neighbour, with your crooked heart.

Follow, poet, follow right To the bottom of the night, With your unconstraining voice Still persuade us to rejoice; With the farming of a verse Make a vineyard of the curse, Sing of human unsuccess In a rapture of distress; In the deserts of the heart Let the healing fountain start, In the prison of his days Teach the free man how to praise.

From beginning to end Wilde performed his life and continued to do so even after fame had taken the plot out of his own hands.

Beloved, we are always in the wrong, Handling so clumsily our stupid lives, Suffering too little or too long, Too careful even in our selfish loves: The decorative manias we obey Die in grimaces round us every day, Yet through their tohu-bohu comes a voice Which utters an absurd command - Rejoice.