By beauty of course I mean truth, for the one involves the other; it is only the false in art which is ugly, and it is only the ugly that is universal.

Some people stay longer in an hour than others can in a week.

What the American public wants in the theater is a tragedy with a happy ending.

We are creatures of the moment; we live from one little space to another, and only one interest at a time fills these.

The conqueror is regarded with awe; the wise man commands our respect; but it is only the benevolent man that wins our affection.

Do not trouble yourselves about standards or ideals; but try to be faithful and natural: remember that there is no greatness, no beauty, which does not come from truth to your own knowledge of things; and keep on working, even if your work is not long remembered.

The mortality of all inanimate things is terrible to me, but that of books most of all.