“No man or woman of the humblest sort can really be strong, gentle, pure, and good without the world being better for it, without somebody being helped and comforted by the very existence of that goodness. ”

“No man or woman of the humblest sort can really be strong, gentle and good, without the world being better for it, without somebody being helped and comforted by the very existence of that goodness.”

“If [literature] should turn into pure propaganda or pure entertainment, society will slip back into the sty of the immediate -- which is to say, the memoryless existence of hymenoptera and gastropods. None of this is so important, to be sure. The world can get by nicely without literature. But without human beings it can get by better yet.”

“The distance between Evil and Good is a vast expanse in which many can exist without being either.”

“making people fear you in this world is not part of being a man. Being a man is leaving such a good impression everywhere you, that people would fear how the world would be without you”

“The temptation of the age is to look good without being good.”