"A man's life of any worth is a continual allegory—and very few eyes can see the mystery of life—a life like the Scriptures, figurative...Lord Byron cuts a figure, but he is not figurative. Shakespeare led a life of allegory: his works are the comments on it."

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“So many, and so many, and such glee.”

“Every mental pursuit takes its reality and worth from the ardour of the pursuer.”

“Knowledge enormous makes a God of me.”

“You might curb your magnanimity, and be more of an artist, and load every rift of your subject with ore.”

“A poet is the most unpoetical of anything in existence; because he has no identity—he is continually informing—and filling some other body.”

“Many have original minds who do not think it — they are led away by custom — Now it appears to me that almost any man may like the spider spin from his own inwards his own citadel.”

Resonant Thoughts

"Except during my childhood, when I was probably influenced by Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel depiction of God with a flowing white beard, I have never tried to project the Creator in any kind of human …"

— Jimmy Carter

Politics1965–2024

#life

"For me, a painting must be a pleasant thing, joyous and pretty - yes, pretty. There are too many unpleasant things in life for us to fabricate still more."

— Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Art1841–1919

#life

"Ach! If Hitler had given me an immoral order I would have refused. Think of it! To break teeth out of a dead body! Think of it! Why, if I had been only a simple soldier, I would not have obeyed. I wou…"

— Oswald Pohl

Economics1892–1951

#life

"There is, in short no end to the story of life. There are merely pauses. The end is the arbitrary intervention of the teller, but there can be no finality about the choice. Today’s end is, after all t…"

— Shashi Tharoor

Politics1956

#life