The Lesson One Can Learn

It Is After Creation, In The Elation Of Success, Or The Gloom Of Failure, That Love Becomes Essential.

In Youth The Life Of Reason Is Not In Itself Sufficient; Afterwards The Life Of Emotion, Except For Short Periods, Becomes Unbearable.

The Goal Of Every Culture Is To Decay Through Over-civilization; The Factors Of Decadence, -- Luxury, Skepticism, Weariness And Superstition, -- Are Constant. The Civilization Of One Epoch Becomes The Manure Of The Next.

The True Function Of A Writer Is To Produce A Masterpiece And No Other Task Is Of Any Consequence.

Failure On The Other Hand Is Infectious. The World Is Full Of Charming Failures (for All Charming People Have Something To Conceal, Usually Their Total Dependence On The Appreciation Of Others) And Unless The Writer Is Quite Ruthless With These Amiable Footlers, They Will Drag Him Down With Them.