“What is the voice of song when the world lacks the ear of taste?”

The inward pleasure of imparting pleasure – that is the choicest of all.

To the untrue man, the whole universe is false- it is impalpable- it shrinks to nothing within his grasp. And he himself is in so far as he shows himself in a false light, becomes a shadow, or, indeed, ceases to exist.

Salt is white and pure – there is something holy in salt.

I want nothing to do with politicians. Their hearts wither away, and die out of their bodies. Their consciences are turned to india-rubber, or to some substance as black as that, and which will stretch as much.

If mankind were all intellect, they would be continually changing, so that one age would be entirely unlike another. The great conservative is the heart, which remains the same in all ages; so that commonplaces of a thousand years’ standing are as effective as ever.

Religion and art spring from the same root and are close kin. Economics and art are strangers.

There is an alchemy of quiet malice by which women can concoct a subtle poison from ordinary trifles.

Words – so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.

Though we speak nonsense, God will pick out the meaning of it.

My fortune somewhat resembled that of a person who should entertain an idea of committing suicide, and, altogether beyond his hopes, meet with the good hap to be murdered.

What we need for our happiness is often close at hand, if we knew but how to seek for it.

The world owes all its onward impulses to men ill at ease. The happy man inevitably confines himself within ancient limits.

Caresses, expressions of one sort or another, are necessary to the life of the affections as leaves are to the life of a tree. If they are wholly restrained, love will die at the roots.

The marble keeps merely a cold and sad memory of a man who would else be forgotten. No man who needs a monument ever ought to have one.

The heart of true womanhood knows where its own sphere is, and never seeks to stray beyond it!

What a happy and holy fashion it is that those who love one another should rest on the same pillow.

I just wanted to write the songs. I never wanted to sing them.

The title is the first thing that I have. Then when I have that title, I have to make sure that the title is like, so I have to make sure I can tell a whole story from that one title and like make sure that it, from beginning to end it makes sense.

I listen to a lot of music. But I definitely haven’t looked at an artist and like thought I want to have a song like this.

People don’t make albums any more. It’s always about singles. I wanted to take that old-school approach.

I write songs for myself, but I never keep them. I’m like, ‘O.K., that was my therapy – it’s out of my body now. I’m going to give it to somebody else so it can be their therapy, too.’

I have a few songs that I’m figuring out and writing. I’m still figuring out the whole concept and how it’s gonna connect to Cry Baby, but I have some ideas, yes.

Sometimes when the song is right for that time period, it’s just kinda bad to let it wait, and then when you do release it eight months down the road, it’s not the same.

An artist could have a really big relationship, and then they break up, and any song after that, people are automatically going to assume that that song is about that person.