“To make us feel small in the right way is a function of art; men can only make us feel small in the wrong way.”

What is wonderful about great literature is that it transforms the man who reads it towards the condition of the man who wrote.

What is the good of your stars and trees, your sunrise and the wind, if they do not enter into our daily lives?

I believe we shall come to care about people less and less, Helen. The more people one knows, the easier it becomes to replace them. It’s one of the curses of London. I quite expect to end my life caring most for a place.

At night, when the curtains are drawn and the fire flickers, my books attain a collective dignity.

How can I know what I think till I see what I say?

Don’t be mysterious; there isn’t the time.

You told me once that we shall be judged by our intentions, not by our accomplishments. I thought it a grand remark. But we must intend to accomplish – not sit intending on a chair.

I think you’re beautiful, the only beautiful person I’ve ever seen. I love your voice and everything to do with you, down to your clothes or the room you are sitting in. I adore you.

There’s never any great risk as long as you have money.

My conviction gains infinitely the moment another soul will believe in it.

I cannot help thinking that there is something to admire in everyone, even if you do not approve of them.

I have no mystic faith in the people. I have in the individual.

How can I know what I think till I see what I say?

I believe in teaching people to be individuals, and to understand other individuals.

Do not be proud of your inconsistency. It is a pity, it is a pity that we should be equipped like this. It is a pity that Man cannot be at the same time impressive and truthful.

It makes a difference doesn’t it, whether we fully fence ourselves in, or whether we are fenced out by the barriers of others?

I feel more like I’m doing a play whose main character just happens to share my name.

Emotions weren’t created to just lie around. You should experience things to the full. I’ve got a sense of the clock ticking.

We are all made of air There’s stars in my eyes and there’s sun in my hair And I’m runnin’ away, it makes me feel better

We have got to have the ugly facts in order to protect us from the official view of reality. Otherwise, we are squeezed empty and filled with what other people want us to think and feel and experience.

People ask for this life, but they don’t really understand what comes with it. People just see the outside and that looks good – big houses, cars, girls, but you never see how the person is feeling deep down inside.

I never wanted to join fashion industry or being another Donna or another Dianne. I made clothes that I wanted to wear. I would cut, I would sew and I would wear, and it made me to feel better.

I don’t feel like I’m with you. And I say, You know what? That was your mother’s gripe, too. And she was right. And you’re also correct. When you cop to something, you get to the next level. In this case, the next level is: I just learned something from my twelve-year-old.

In a way I feel sorry for him, because of his work with me he cannot play as much chess as he wants. He more or less gave up his playing career.