“I am, as I am; whether hideous, or handsome, depends upon who is made judge.”

A book in a man’s brain is better off than a book bound in calf – at any rate it is safer from criticism.

No philosophers so thoroughly comprehend us as dogs and horses.

Failure is the true test of greatness

I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts.

Is there some principal of nature which states that we never know the quality of what we have until it is gone?

Stay true to the dreams of thy youth.

There is one knows not what sweet mystery about this sea, whose gently awful stirrings seem to speak of some hidden soul beneath.

To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme.

I’ll try a pagan friend, thought I, since Christian kindness has proved but hollow courtesy.

What is an atheist, but one who does not, or will not, see in the universe a ruling principle of love; and what a misanthrope, but one who does not, or will not, see in man a ruling principle of kindness?

An utterly fearless man is a far more dangerous comrade than a coward.

It is not down in any map; true places never are.

Think not, is my eleventh commandment; and sleep when you can, is my twelfth.

For as this appalling ocean surrounds the verdant land, so in the soul of man there lies one insular Tahiti, full of peace and joy, but encompassed by all the horrors of the half known life.

Ignorance is the parent of fear.

He who has never failed somewhere, that man can not be great.

When I was a kid, I’d spray paint my hair, cut clothes up.

And you can’t outrun something you can’t see.

People are always so surprised when they meet me. Firstly, that I’m ‘so tiny’, and secondly that I’m ‘so sweet’. They seem surprised that they’re not scared of me.

I’ve always been into looking different.

There is a world of created beings – living things, animals, entelechies, and souls – in the least part of matter. Thus there is nothing waste, nothing sterile, nothing dead in the universe; no chaos, no confusions, save in appearance.

I’ve never heard a man in a suit tell me what to wear; that’s not their forte. You hire your stylist; whatever someone’s image is as an artist is what they’ve chosen to portray.

When I first appeared, people couldn’t figure out whether I was gay, straight, black, white or whatever, and I loved that. I loved the fact it scares people.

The best thing is to look natural, but it takes makeup to look natural.