Irish poet and playwright
In its primary aspect, a painting has no more spiritual message than an exquisite fragment of Venetian glass. The channels by which all noble and imaginative work in painting should touch the soul are not those of the truths of lives.
If you pretend to be good, the world takes you very seriously. If you pretend to be bad, it doesn't. Such is the astounding stupidity of optimism.
A critic should be taught to criticise a work of art without making any reference to the personality of the author.
There is no necessity to separate the monarch from the mob; all authority is equally bad.
A man's face is his autobiography. A woman's face is her work of fiction.
There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written.
The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast.
The basis of optimism is sheer terror.
Fathers should be neither seen nor heard. That is the only proper basis for family life.
Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault.