People who love only once in their lives are. . . shallow people. What they call their loyalty, and their read more

People who love only once in their lives are. . . shallow people. What they call their loyalty, and their fidelity, I call either the lethargy of custom or their lack of imagination.

I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people

I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people

For art to exist, for any sort of aesthetic activity or perception to exist, a certain physiological precondition is indispensable: read more

For art to exist, for any sort of aesthetic activity or perception to exist, a certain physiological precondition is indispensable: intoxication

For as our modern wits behold,
Mounted a pick-back on the old,
Much farther off, much further read more

For as our modern wits behold,
Mounted a pick-back on the old,
Much farther off, much further he,
Rais'd on his aged Beast, could see.

Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.

Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.

One thing, however, I must premise, that without the assistance
of natural capacity, rules and precepts are of no read more

One thing, however, I must premise, that without the assistance
of natural capacity, rules and precepts are of no efficacy.
[Lat., Illud tamen in primis testandum est, nihil praecepta atque
artes valere nisi adjuvante natura.]

From such crooked wood as that which man is made of, nothing straight can be fashioned.

From such crooked wood as that which man is made of, nothing straight can be fashioned.

The carpenter is not the best who makes more chips than all the rest.

The carpenter is not the best who makes more chips than all the rest.

Life has been compared to a race, but the allusion improves by observing, that the most swift are usually the read more

Life has been compared to a race, but the allusion improves by observing, that the most swift are usually the least manageable and the most likely to stray from the course. Great abilities have always been less serviceable to the possessors than moderate ones.