"we know by the odour that occasionally we are visited by skunks, which are not poetic but very beautiful."

“And love's the noblest frailty of the mind.”

“Morally it makes no difference whether a person is killed in war or condemned to starve by the indifference of others.”

“Avoid distant views, paint objects close up. If the foreground is well done the distance will take care of itself.”

“While the Coliseum stands, Rome shall stand; when the Coliseum falls, Rome shall fall; when Rome falls, the world shall fall.”

“It might be scary because you're taking a risk, but at the end of the day you can say you tried.”

Source : Interview with Alan Cumming, www.harpersbazaar.com. December 7, 2010.

“At every moment of his life the Shoshone must be careful to observe the complicated folkways of his group, to do reverence to superhuman powers, to remember the courtesies and obligations of family, to pay homage to certain sacred plants, or to avoid particular places.”

Source : Peter Farb (1968). “Man's rise to civilization as shown by the Indians of North America from primeval times to the coming of the industrial state”, Secker & Warburg

“Any virtue systematically applied becomes a vice. Morality is attention, not system.”

Source : "Vectors: Aphorisms & Ten-Second Essays". Book by James Richardson, 2001.

“When they come for your guns, give them the ammo first.”