Olaf Stapledon (1886–1950) British novelist and philosopher
Other texts
Source: The Core, in: An Olaf Stapledon Reader, Syracuse University Press, New York 1997: pp. 266-272.
"Foreword", p. 3.
Source: Strong Opinions (1973)
Olaf Stapledon (1886–1950) British novelist and philosopher
Other texts
Source: The Core, in: An Olaf Stapledon Reader, Syracuse University Press, New York 1997: pp. 266-272.
“Literature and butterflies are the two sweetest passions known to man.”
Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977) Russian-American novelist, lepidopterist, professor
Al Capone (1899–1947) American gangster
As quoted in How to Win Friends and Influence People (1936) by Dale Carnegie, p. 26
Claude Debussy (1862–1918) French composer
As quoted in Claude Debussy: His Life and Works (1933) by Léon Vallas, p. 226
Context: I wish to write down my musical dreams in a spirit of utter self-detachment. I wish to sing of my interior visions with the naïve candour of a child. No doubt, this simple musical grammar will jar on some people. It is bound to offend the partisans of deceit and artifice. I foresee that and rejoice at it. I shall do nothing to create adversaries, but neither shall I do anything to turn enmities into friendships. I must endeavour to be a great artist so that I may dare to be myself and suffer for my faith. Those who feel as I do will only appreciate me more. The others will shun and hate me. I shall make no effort to appease them. On that distant day — I trust it is still very far off — when I shall no longer be a cause of strife, I shall feel bitter self-reproach. For that odious hypocrisy which enables one to please all mankind will inevitably have prevailed in those last works.
“Only three things in my life I've really liked to do - hunt, write and make love.”
Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American author and journalist
Pt. 2, Ch. 5
Papa Hemingway (1966)
“Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known.”
Oscar Wilde book The Soul of Man under Socialism
Source: The Soul of Man Under Socialism
As quoted in the "Translator's Introduction" to The Deer and the Cauldron: A Martial Arts Novel, Book 1, trans. John Minford (Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1997), p. xi