Everyone realizes that one can believe little of what people say about each other. But it is not so widely realized that even less can one trust what people say about themselves. – Rebecca West
Did St Francis preach to the birds? Whatever for? If he really liked birds he would have done better to preach to the cats. – Rebecca West
Now different races and nationalities cherish different ideals of society that stink in each others nostrils with an offensiveness beyond the power of any but the most monstrous private deed. – Rebecca West
I take it as a prime cause of the present confusion of society that it is too sickly and too doubtful to use pleasure frankly as a test of value. – Rebecca West
For — believe me — the secret for harvesting from existence the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment is — to live dangerously! Build your cities on the slopes of Vesuvius! Send your ships into unchartered seas! – Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900), The Gay Science, “Book Four: St Januarius