The true function of art is to...edit nature and so make it coherent and lovely. The artist is a sort read more

The true function of art is to...edit nature and so make it coherent and lovely. The artist is a sort of impassioned proofreader, blue-penciling the bad spelling of God.

It is a juvenile notion that a society needs a lofty purpose and a shining vision to achieve much. Both read more

It is a juvenile notion that a society needs a lofty purpose and a shining vision to achieve much. Both in the marketplace and on the battlefield men who set their hearts on toys have often displayed unequal initiative and drive. And one must be ignorant of the creative process to look for a close correspondence between motive and achievement in the world of thought and imagination.

Idealism without realism is impotent. Realism without idealism is immoral.

Idealism without realism is impotent. Realism without idealism is immoral.

From the psychological point of view, the self-asserting emotions, derived from emergency reactions, involve a narrowing of consciousness; the participatory read more

From the psychological point of view, the self-asserting emotions, derived from emergency reactions, involve a narrowing of consciousness; the participatory emotions an expansion of consciousness by identificatory processes of various kinds.

A man's soul is pierced as it were with holes, and as his longings flow through each they are transmuted read more

A man's soul is pierced as it were with holes, and as his longings flow through each they are transmuted into something specific.

There are many who find the burdens, the anxiety, and the isolation of an individual existence unbearable. This is particularly read more

There are many who find the burdens, the anxiety, and the isolation of an individual existence unbearable. This is particularly true when the opportunities for self-advancement are relatively meager, and one's individual interests and prospects do not seem worth living for. Such persons sooner or later turn their backs on an individual existence and strive to acquire a sense of worth and a purpose by an identification with a holy cause, a leader, or a movement. The faith and pride they derive from such an identification serve them as substitutes for the unattainable self-confidence and self-respect.

There are no chaste minds. Minds copulate wherever they meet.

There are no chaste minds. Minds copulate wherever they meet.

It seems, in fact, as though the second half of a man's life is made up of nothing, but the read more

It seems, in fact, as though the second half of a man's life is made up of nothing, but the habits he has accumulated during the first half.

To believe that if we could but have this or that we would be happy is to suppress the realization read more

To believe that if we could but have this or that we would be happy is to suppress the realization that the cause of our unhappiness is in our inadequate and blemished selves. Excessive desire is thus a means of suppressing our sense of worthlessness.