Now that is the wisdom of a man, in every instance of his labor, to hitch his wagon to a star, and see his chore done by the gods ...themselves. That is the way we are strong, by borrowing the might of the elements. The forces of steam, gravity, galvanism, light, magnets, wind, fire, serve us day by day and cost us nothing.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
It may cost me twenty thousand francs; but for twenty thousand francs, I will have the right to rail against the iniquity of human...ity, and to devote to it my eternal hatred.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to compl...ete it?LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Do not be made a beggar by banqueting upon borrowing, when thou hast nothing in thy purse: for thou shalt lie in wait for thine ow...n life, and be talked on.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
If music in general is an imitation of history, opera in particular is an imitation of human willfulness; it is rooted in the fact... that we not only have feelings but insist upon having them at whatever cost to ourselves.... The quality common to all the great operatic roles, e.g., Don Giovanni, Norma, Lucia, Tristan, Isolde, Brünnhilde, is that each of them is a passionate and willful state of being. In real life they would all be bores, even Don Giovanni.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
History is strewn with the wrecks of nations which have gained a little progressiveness at the cost of a great deal of hard manlin...ess, and have thus prepared themselves for destruction as soon as the the movements of the world gave a chance for it.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »