“You see, nothing matters except pleasure - which is the opposite of happiness, its tragic part, I expect.”

“Music is only love looking for words.”

“And I saw her as a sad thirtieth child of Valentine that fell, not as Lucifer rebelling against God, but because she too passionately wanted to be united with him! All things in excess become sin.”

“Art like life is an open secret.”

“I dont believe one reads to escape reality. A person reads to confirm a reality he knows is there, but which he has not experienced.”

“... history - the lamp which illumines national character...”

“To create art with all the passion in one's soul is to live art with all the beauty in one's heart.”

“art is risk made visible”

“Eleanor was right. She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn't supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something.”