“I pretend not to be a champion of that same naked virtue called truth, to the very outrance. I can consent that her charms be hidden with a veil, were it but for decency's sake.”

“Give me your honest opinion. I don't want truth with a veil on—I like naked ladies naked.”

“She was like me in lineaments-- her eyesHer hair, her features, all, to the very toneEven of her voice, they said were like to mine;But soften'd all, and temper'd into beauty;She had the same lone thoughts and wanderings,The quest of hidden knowledge, and a mindTo comprehend the universe: nor theseAlone, but with them gentler powers than mine,Pity, and smiles, and tears-- which I had not;And tenderness-- but that I had for her; Humility-- and that I never had. Her faults were mine-- her virtues were her own--I loved her, and destroy'd her!”

“To love truth for truth's sake is the principal part of human perfection in this world, and the seed-plot of all other virtues.”

“Enter the streets that you have never been to for the sake of the concealed beauties and the hidden truths!”

“A virtue that only causes havoc and unhappiness is worth nothing. You can call it virtue if you like. I call it cowardice.”