No egoism is so insufferable as that of the Christian with regard to his soul.

No egoism is so insufferable as that of the Christian with regard to his soul.

The Americans, who are the most efficient people on the earth, have carried [phrase-making] to such a height of perfection and have invented so wide a range of pithy and hackneyed phrases that they can carry on an amusing and animated conversation without giving a moment’s reflection to what they are saying and so leave their minds free to consider the more important matters of big business and fornication.

There is nothing so terrible as the pursuit of art by those who have no talent.

The artist produces for the liberation of his soul. It is his nature to create as it is the nature of water to run down the hill.

The humour of Dostoievsky is the humour of a barloafer who ties a kettle to a dog's tail.

He knew that all things human are transitory and therefore that it must cease one day or another. He looked forward to that day with eager longing. Love was like a parasite in his heart, nourishing a hateful existence on his life's blood; it absorbed his existence so intensely that he could take pleasure in nothing else.