The past is ignorant of the present. Be careful in taking its advice.
Listening to people keeps them entertained.
The limitations of pleasure cannot be overcome by more pleasure.
Joy goes as deep as sorrow, but leaves less of itself behind.
In the city, nudity means something; in the wild, it just exists.
I have a special grudge against those who have the same faults as I do.
The self-righteous rule out the possibility that they are what has gone wrong.
A dirty mind is a rich inner resource.
Families in which nothing is ever discussed usually have a lot not to discuss.
First literature came to refer only to itself, the literary theory.
My parents wanted me to solace them for sorrows they denied having had.
Outside books, we avoid colorful characters.
Romantics consider common sense vulgar.
The aim of literary ambition is to demonstrate one's greatness of soul.
The man in the street is always a stranger.
Well-behaved: he always speaks as if his mother might be listening.
A real idea keeps changing and appears in many places.
Affection reproaches, but does not denounce.
Art seduces, but does not exploit.
Critic's delight: scolding the Mighty Dead.
Death is frightening, and so is Eternal Life.
Events are called inevitable only after they have occurred.
Every literary critic believes he will outwit history and have the last word.
General statements omit what we really want to know. Example: some horses run faster than others.
If beggars do not hate the rest of us, they are even more abject than I had imagined.
