Literature Quotes - Page 32

Most of those who make collections of verse or epigram are like men eating cherries or oysters: they choose out the best at first, and end by eating all.

Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled.

Malice is always authentic and sincere.

Humor must not professedly teach and it must not professedly preach, but it must do both if it would live forever.

Know which officials are voted into office and which are appointed, and by whom.

It is not because other people are dead that our affection for them grows faint, it is because we ourselves are dying.

From the very fountain of enchantment there arises a taste of bitterness to spread anguish amongst the flowers.

And the commencement of atonement is the sense of its necessity.

In terms of broadcasting, you have to make decisions about where you want to spend your time.

He never chooses an opinion; he just wears whatever happens to be in style.

My unconscious knows more about the consciousness of the psychologist than his consciousness knows about my unconscious.

Censure is the tax a man pays to the public for being eminent.

People don't expect too much from literature. They just want to know they're not alone with being confused.

The higher a man stands, the more the word vulgar becomes unintelligible to him.

The decline of literature indicates the decline of a nation.

What you risk reveals what you value.

The more I know of the world, the more I am convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love.

To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme. No great and enduring volume can ever be written on the flea, though many there be that have tried it.

I am not a prophet in any sense of the word, and I entertain an active and intense dislike of the foregoing mixture of optimism, fatalism, and conservatism.

Our houses are such unwieldy property that we are often imprisoned rather than housed by them.

Don't overestimate the decency of the human race.

It's in literature that true life can be found. It's under the mask of fiction that you can tell the truth.

The art of the cuisine, when fully mastered, is the one human capability of which only good things can be said.

Don't despair, not even over the fact that you don't despair.

All I am is literature, and I am not able or willing to be anything else.