25 quotes
Old age has its pleasures, which, though different, are not less than the pleasures of youth.
The Summing Up (1938)
Every production of an artist should be the expression of an adventure of his soul.
The Summing Up (1938)
Imagination grows by exercise, and contrary to common belief, is more powerful in the mature than in the young.
The Summing Up (1938)
Old age is ready to undertake tasks that youth shirked because they would take too long.
The Summing Up (1938)
There is only one thing about which I am certain, and this is that there is very little about which one can be certain.
The Summing Up (1938)
The artist produces for the liberation of his soul. It is his nature to create as it is the nature of water to run down the hill.
The Summing Up (1938)
You are not angry with people when you laugh at them. Humour teaches tolerance, and the humorist, with a smile and perhaps a sigh, is more likely to shrug his shoulders than to condemn.
The Summing Up (1938)
I have been forced to conclude from this that we know our friends by their defects rather than by their merits.
The Summing Up (1938)
There is a sort of man who pays no attention to his good actions, but is tormented by his bad ones. This is the type that most often writes about himself.
The Summing Up (1938)
Perfection is a trifle dull. It is not the least of life's ironies that this, which we all aim at, is better not quite achieved.
The Summing Up (1938)
I have not been afraid of excess: excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit.
The Summing Up (1938)
It is salutary to train oneself to be no more affected by censure than by praise...
The Summing Up (1938)
There is no explanation for evil. It must be looked upon as a necessary part of the order of the universe. To ignore it is childish, to bewail it senseless.
The Summing Up (1938)
We are not the same persons this year as last ; nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person.
The Summing Up (1938)
The great critic ... must be a philosopher, for from philosophy he will learn serenity, impartiality, and the transitoriness of human things.
The Summing Up (1938)
I would sooner read a time-table or a catalogue than nothing at all. ... They are much more entertaining than half the novels that are written.
The Summing Up (1938)
The common idea that success spoils people by making them vain, egotistic and self-complacent is erroneous; on the contrary it makes them, for the most part, humble, tolerant and kind. Failure makes people bitter and cruel.
The Summing Up (1938)
Tradition is a guide and not a jailer.
The Summing Up (1938)
Failure makes people bitter and cruel.
The Summing Up (1938)
I'll give you my opinion of the human race in a nutshell... their heart's in the right place, but their head is a thoroughly inefficient organ.
The Summing Up (1938)