“A civilization begins to decline the moment Life becomes its sole obsession.”
“Under wage labor, the art advances, the artisan declines.”
“Western civilization was declining too fast for comfort, but too slowly to be very exciting.”
“The decline of literature indicates the decline of a nation.”
“I know not why, but all the noblest arts hold in perfection but for a very little moment. They soon reach a height from which they begin to decline, and when they have begun to decline it is a pity that they cannot be knocked on the head; for an art is like a living organism—better dead than dying.”