Already, he was dreaming of a refined solitude, a comfortable desert, a motionless ark in which to seek refuge from the unending deluge of human stupidity.

Worshiping the Devil is no more insane than worshiping God...It is precisely at the moment when positivism is at its high-water mark that mysticism stirs into life and the follies of occultism begin.

The modern painter…is an excellent couturier

He realized at last that the arguments of pessimism were powerless to comfort him

Immersed in solitude, he would dream or read far into the night. By protracted contemplation of the same thoughts, his mind grew sharp, his vague, undeveloped ideas took on form.

Menacing lines of black tomorrows on the horizon.

Art and prayer are the only decent ejaculations of the soul.

The loveliest tune imaginable becomes vulgar and insupportable as soon as the public begins to hum it and the hurdy-gurdies make it their own.

Only the chaste are truly obscene.

How inferior the human machine is, compared to man-made machines. They can be decoked, unscrewed, oiled and parts replaced. Decidedly, nature is not a very wonderful thing.

Really, when I think it over, literature has only one excuse for existing; it saves the person who makes it from the disgustingness of life.

The only chance of success is to trust in your own power.

You've got to have a sense of humor to keep your sanity.

The storm came. Lives were washed away. Ancient pains resurfaced. Now it is time for a sea of change.

We were in a relationship for eight years, and we maybe saw each other, total, for a year.

History is the school of statesmanship.

One half of the world's people live on less than two dollars a day. This should concern our national security policy as well as our conscience.

I think all of this—The Roots and DJing included—was meant to prepare me for The Tonight Show.

Acting doesn't suffice.

All I ever wanted to do was be on Broadway. I mean, remember, I grew up in a trailer.