A man is not idle because he is absorbed in thought. There is visible labor and there is invisible labor. Les Misérables

Yoga in Mayfair or Fifth Avenue, or in any other place which is on the telephone, is a spiritual fake. Collected Works, vol. 11

Violence does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls into the pit which he digs for another. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Real art, like the wife of an affectionate husband, needs no ornaments. But counterfeit art, like a prostitute, must always be decked out. The cause of production of real art is the artist's inner need to express a feeling that has accumulated, just as for a mother the cause of sexual conception is love. The cause of counterfeit art, as of prostitution, is gain. The consequence of true art is the introduction of a new feeling into the intercourse of life, as the consequence of a wife's love is the birth of a new man into life. The consequences of counterfeit art are the perversion of man, pleasure which never satisfies, and the weakening of man's spiritual strength. What is art?