"Life too near paralyses art...." - Quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson

“What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness.”

“What is the city in which we sit here, but an aggregate of incongruous materials, which have obeyed the will of some man?”

“Books are the best of things, well used; abused, among the worst...They are for nothing but to inspire.”

“Study the science of art and the art of science.”

“The Poor Man whom everyone speaks of, the Poor Man whom everyone pities, one of the repulsive Poor from whom charitable souls keep their distance, he has still said nothing. Or, rather, he has spoken through the voice of Victor Hugo, Zola, Richepin. At least, they said so. And these shameful impostures fed their authors. Cruel irony, the Poor Man tormented with hunger feeds those who plead his case.”

“You are the song of every bird, you are the poet's every word, every artist's picture, every writer's play.”

“Love. Fall in love and stay in love. Write only what you love, and love what you write. The key word is love. You have to get up in the morning and write something you love, something to live for.”

“Human life runs its course in the metamorphosis between receiving and giving.”

“A man or woman is seldom happy unless he or she is sustaining him or herself and making a contribution to others.”