No language is rude that can boast polite writers. – Aubrey Beardsley
In the present age, alas! our pens are ravished by unlettered authors and unmannered critics, that make a havoc rather than a building, a wilderness rather than a garden. But, a lack! what boots it to drop tears upon the preterit? – Aubrey Beardsley
The face of nature and civilization in this our country is to a certain point a very sufficient literary field. But it will yield its secrets only to a really grasping imagination. To write well and worthily of American things one need even more than elsewhere to be a master. – Henry James
On one level, nothings really changed in my life. I still drive my daughter in the car pool on Monday. But its impossible not to be aware of this rush of attention its impossible not to be seduced by it once youve entered into it, seduced by being unhappy when the attention wanes. – Michael Tolkin