I believe that the death penalty is the ultimate deterrent to violent crime. . . period.
Books are the beehives of thought; laconics, the honey taken from them.
Twilight is like death; the dark portal of night comes upon us, to open again in the glorious morning of immortality.
True loyalty consists not in bowing the knee to earthly greatness, or in heroic deeds to "gild the kingly knave, or garnish out the fool," but in noble, generous acts of honest purpose, where truth, honor, and virtue, and a nation's welfare, are dearer than life.
Some few have a natural talent for office-bolding; very many for office-seeking.
Among all the accomplishments of life none are so important as refinement; it is not, like beauty, a gift of Nature, and can only be acquired by cultivation and practice.
Style in painting is the same as in writing,-a power over materials, whether words or colors.
. . . if you feel everything intensely, ultimately you feel nothing at all.
I benefit from contemplation, but it's a great antidote to that, having someone interesting come into the studio environment to be painted, so that I can experience a little bit of their world.
You have to be a bit of a liar to tell a story the right way.
Mozart's music gives us permission to live.