Athirst for personal salvation, the West forgets that many religions had but a vague notion of the life beyond the grave; true, all great religions stake a claim on eternity, but not necessarily on man’s eternal life.

The next century’s task will be to rediscover its gods.

All art is a revolt against man’s fate.

Be careful – with quotations, you can damn anything.

I don’t argue with my enemies; I explain to their children.

The first duty of a leader is to make himself be loved without courting love. To be loved without ‘playing up’ to anyone – even to himself.

Every young man’s heart is a graveyard in which are inscribed the names of a thousand dead artists but whose only actual denizens are a few mighty, often antagonistic, ghosts.

A political leader is necessarily an imposter since he believes in solving life’s problems without asking its question.

In literature, as in Life, one is often astonished by what is chosen by others.

There’s no such thing as a grown up person.