Precisely in proportion to our own intellectual weakness will be our credulity as to those mysterious powers assumed by others.
. . . the novel is called upon like no other art form to incorporate the intellectual content of an age.
Is not art a tool we employ to peel the kitsch off life? Layer by layer art strips life bare. The more abstract it gets, the more transparent the air is. Can it be that the farther it is removed from life, the clearer art becomes?
In their field they [mathematicians] do what we ought to be doing in ours. Therein lies the significant lesson. . . of their existence. They are an analogy for the intellectual of the future.
It is, all in all, a historic error to believe that the master makes the school; the students make it!
Strong emotional experiences are for the most part impersonal. Anyone who has hated another person so much that only chance stands between that person and death knows this, as does whoever has fallen into the catastrophe of a deep depression, anyone who has loved a woman to the dregs, anyone who has beaten others bloody or ever come up behind another person with muscles trembling. "Losing one's head," language calls it. Emotional experience is, in itself, poor in qualities; qualities are brought to it by the person who has the experience.
. . . the structure of a page of good prose is, analyzed logically, not something frozen but the vibrating of a bridge, which changes with every step one takes on it.
Develop the ability to stand back as a witness to your thoughts. This will make your mind strong.
Golf is a nice game, but that's all. It's never going to be an exciting game to watch on TV. It's not a circus and never will be one. The audience for golf is not going to change significantly. It's always going to be people who play it, understand it, and love it.
I'd give up golf if I didn't have so many sweaters.
I used to do drugs in high school. I've been living in L. A. for almost 10 years, and shortly after I arrived I cleaned up pretty much. Stuff goes on on the set, stuff goes on at parties.