“A poet is the most unpoetical of anything in existence, because he has no identity - he is continually informing and filling some other body
“The trumpet does no more stun you by its loudness, than a whisper teases you by its provoking inaudibility
“A vacuum of ideas affects people differently than a vacuum of air, otherwise readers of books would be constantly collapsing
“An opera may be allowed to be extravagantly lavish in its decorations, as its only design is to gratify the senses and keep up an indolent attention in the audience
“Where painting is weakest, namely, in the expression of the highest moral and spiritual ideas, there music is sublimely strong.
“There are certain things in which mediocrity is not to be endured, such as poetry, music, painting, public speaking
“If I had my life to live over again, I would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once a week.
“Praise or blame has but a momentary effect on the man whose love of beauty in the abstract makes him a severe critic on his own works
“Poetry should surprise by a fine excess and not by singularity, it should strike the reader as a wording of his own highest thoughts, and appear almost a remembrance
“It’s none of their business that you have to learn how to write. Let them think you were born that way