“One is what one has the nerve to pretend to be.”
“What man has nerve to do, man has not nerve to hear.”
“Scenes of blood and cruelty are shocking to our ear and heart. What man has nerve to do, man has not nerve to hear.”
“One must read poetry with one's nerves.”
“One should never regret one's excesses, only one's failures of nerve.”
“In trying to justify the humanities, as in trying to live a life, what may turn out to matter most is holding one's nerve.”