- "but he never fell into the error of arresting his intellectual development by any formal acceptance of creed or system, or of mistaking, for a house in which to live, an inn that is but suitable for the sojourn of a night, or for a few hours of a night in which there are no stars and the moon is in travail." (ch. 11)
- "[...] no theory of life seemed to him to be of any importance compared with life itself. he felt keenly conscious of how barren all intellectual speculation is when separated from action and experiment. he knew that the senses, no less than the soul, have their spiritual mysteries to reveal." (ch. 11)
- "society, civilized society at least, is never very ready to believe anything to the detriment of those who are both rich and fascinating." (ch. 11)
- "one has a right to judge of a man by the effect he has over his friends." (ch. 12)
- "romance lives by repetition, and repetition converts an appetite into an art. besides, each time that one loves is the only time one has ever loved. difference of object does not alter singleness of passion. it merely intensifies it. we can have in life but one great experience at best, and the secret of life is to reproduce that experience as often as possible." (ch. 17)
- "i have never searched for happiness. who wants happiness? i have searched for pleasure." (ch. 17)
- "in the common world of fact the wicked were not punished, nor the good rewarded. success was given to the strong, failure thrust upon the weak. that was all." (ch. 18)
- "as for omens, there is no such thing as an omen. destiny does not send us heralds. she is too wise or too cruel for that." (ch. 18)
- "to get back my youth i would do anything in the world, except take exercise, get up early, or be respectable." (ch. 19)
- "my dear boy, you are really beginning to moralize. you will soon be going about like the converted, and the revivalist, warning people against all the sins of which you have grown tired. you are much too delightful to do that. besides, it is no use. you and i are what we are, and will be what we will be. as for being poisoned by a book, there is no such thing as that. art has no influence upon action. it annihilates the desire to act. it is superbly sterile. the books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame. that is all." (ch. 19)
oct 20 2026 ∞
oct 20 2026 +