“Sentimentally I am disposed to harmony; but organically I am incapable of a tune.”
A Chapter on Ears; reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
Essays of Elia (1823)
Letter to Morris Raphael Cohen, professor emeritus of philosophy at the College of the City of New York, defending the appointment of Bertrand Russell to a teaching position (19 March 1940).
1940s
Variant: Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence and fulfills the duty to express the results of his thoughts in clear form.
“I give myself sometimes admirable advice, but I am incapable of taking it.”
“I am an invisible monster, and I am incapable of loving anybody. You don't know which is worse.”
Variant: I'm an invisible monster. I'm incapable of loving anybody. You don't know which is worse.
Source: Invisible Monsters
As quoted in Nine Old Men (1936) by Drew Pearson and Robert Sharon Allen, p. 221
Other writings
Source: Break-Out from the Crystal Palace (1974), p. 40
Pt. 2, Ch. 2: Time, activity, history, p. 412
The Coming of Age (1970)
Source: La Vieillesse
