“Without duty, life is sort of boneless; it cannot hold itself together.”
“You will not find poetry anywhere unless you bring some of it with you.”
“There was a time when the world acted on books; now books act on the world.”
“Words are like eyeglasses they blur everything that they do not make clear.”
“The worst thing about new books is that they keep us from reading the old ones.”
“It is better to debate a question without settling it than to settle it without debate.”
“There is always some frivolity in excellent minds; they have wings to rise, but also stray.”
“We always believe God is like ourselves, the indulgent think him indulgent and the stern, terrible.”
“Never write anything that does not give you great pleasure. Emotion is easily transferred from the writer to the reader.”
“We do not do well except when we know where the best is and when we are assured that we have touched it and hold its power within us.”
“How many people make themselves abstract to appear profound. The most useful part of abstract terms are the shadows they create to hide a vacuum.”
“Grace is in garments, in movements, in manners; beauty in the nude, and in forms. This is true of bodies; but when we speak of feelings, beauty is in their spirituality, and grace in their moderation.”
“Professional critics are incapable of distinguishing and appreciating either diamonds in the rough or gold in bars. They are traders, and in literature know only the coins that are current. Their critical lab has scales and weights, but neither crucible or touchstone.”