“In literary criticism the critic has no choice but to make over the victim of his attention into something the size and shape of himself.”

“Critics are the eunuchs of literature. They stand by in envious awe while the whole man and his partner demonstrate the art of living.”

“Time is the only critic without ambition.”

“Man has a choice and it's a choice that makes him a man.”

“But think of the glory of the choice! That makes a man a man. A cat has no choice, a bee must make honey. There's no godliness there.”

“But 'Thou mayest!'! Why, that makes a man great, that gives him stature with the gods, for in his weakness and his filth and his murder of his brother he has still the great choice. He can choose his course and fight it through and win”

“Man hates something in himself. He has been able to defeat every natural obstacle but himself he cannot win over unless he kills every individual. And this self-hate which goes so closely in hand with self-love is what I wrote about. - in a letter to George Albee”