Others

You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul.

You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul.

A work of art that contains theories is like an object on which the price tag has been left.

Reading is equivalent to thinking with someone else’s head instead of with one’s own.

It is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another’s skin; another’s voice; another’s soul.

I don’t think we should read for instruction but to give our souls a chance to luxuriate.

To be apt in quotation is a splendid and dangerous gift. Splendid, because it ornaments a man’s speech with other men’s jewels; dangerous, for the same reason.

A good quotation must be a complete entity. It must be like a headline—sharp, clear, whole.

A good quotation must be a complete entity. It must be like a headline—sharp, clear, whole.

Questions are never indiscreet. Answers sometimes are.

I pick up favorite quotations, and store them in my mind as ready armor, offensive or defensive, amid the struggle of this turbulent existence.

When we have arrived at the question, the answer is already near.

We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and by the depth of our answers.

You start a question, and it’s like starting a stone. You sit quietly on top of a hill; and the stone goes, starting others.

There are no ugly questions except those clothed in condescension.

The words “question” and “quest” are cognates. Only through inquiry can we discover truth.

The words “question” and “quest” are cognates. Only through inquiry can we discover truth.

A sudden, bold, and unexpected question doth many times surprise a man and lay him open.

You can’t pray a lie.

Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known.

The primary benefit of practicing any art, whether well or badly, is that it enables one’s soul to grow.

The primary benefit of practicing any art, whether well or badly, is that it enables one’s soul to grow.

For me, a poet is someone who is “in contact.” Someone through whom a current is passing.

For me, a poet is someone who is “in contact.” Someone through whom a current is passing.