There was never yet fair woman but she made mouths in a glass.

On some positions, Cowardice asks the question, ‚Is it safe?‘ Expediency asks the question, ‚Is it politic?‘ And Vanity comes along and asks the question, ‚Is it popular?‘ But Conscience asks the question, ‚Is it right?‘

Beauty of whatever kind, in its supreme development, invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears.

In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.

When we look back on all the perils through which we have passed and at the mighty foes that we have laid low and all the dark and deadly designs that we have frustrated, why should we fear for our future? We have come safely through the worst.

If my world were to cave in tomorrow, I would look back on all the pleasures, excitements and worthwhilenesses I have been lucky enough to have had. Not the sadness, not my miscarriages or my father leaving home, but the joy of everything else. It will have been enough.

Any lady who is first lady likes being first lady. I don’t care what they say, they like it.

How glorious a greeting the sun gives the mountains!

There is not a sprig of grass that shoots uninteresting to me.

Vanity is the healthiest thing in life.

I haven’t written my own epitaph, and I’m not sure I should. Whatever it is, I hope it will be simple, and that it will point people not to me, but to the One I served.

The end is the beginning of all things, Suppressed and hidden, Awaiting to be released through the rhythm Of pain and pleasure.

Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It’s the transition that’s troublesome.

I think there is a sense of being forced at this time to look at America’s really large shadow and that’s not all that bad.

I’m attracted to women who are smart and funny and ambitious and have lives of their own and great families. Isn’t that what attracts anyone?

I let people fill in the blanks on their own. If they want to think about their ex, that’s fine. If they want to think about maybe who one of my exes is, then that’s fine. And it might not be right, because I’m the only one who knows what these songs are really about. It’s the one shred of privacy I have in the matter.

My role in society, or any artist’s or poet’s role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all.

In my younger days, I was trying to write sophisticated prose and fantastic stories.

Whoever thinks a faultless piece to see, Thinks what ne’er was, nor is, nor e’er shall be.

In all chaos there is a cosmos, in all disorder a secret order.

Without deep reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people.

Why are women… so much more interesting to men than men are to women?

And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.

I knew I belonged to the public and to the world, not because I was talented or even beautiful, but because I had never belonged to anything or anyone else.

At fifty everyone has the face he deserves.

Every man in his lifetime needs to thank his faults.

A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other.

O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!

We have lived long enough to experience the hollowness of earth and the rottenness of all carnal promises.

It is not sufficient to see and to know the beauty of a work. We must feel and be affected by it.

Men and women do think differently, and frankly, we don’t understand each other. Not at all! But that’s what makes relationships so amazing.

Despair is the conclusion of fools.

It’s every girl’s dream to be a cover girl!

We moralize among ruins.

Consider a tree for a moment. As beautiful as trees are to look at, we don’t see what goes on underground – as they grow roots. Trees must develop deep roots in order to grow strong and produce their beauty. But we don’t see the roots. We just see and enjoy the beauty. In much the same way, what goes on inside of us is like the roots of a tree.

I am growing handsome very fast indeed! I expect I shall be the belle of Amherst when I reach my 17th year. I don’t doubt that I shall have perfect crowds of admirers at that age. Then how I shall delight to make them await my bidding, and with what delight shall I witness their suspense while I make my final decision.

Fashion is always of the time in which you live. It is not something standing alone. But the grand problem, the most important problem, is to rejeuvenate women. To make women look young. Then their outlook changes. They feel more joyous.

There’s a deceptive sin that can keep us from walking in love: pride. It’s deceptive because when you have pride, you’re usually too proud to admit it. I know this because I used to have teachings on pride and they didn’t sell well.

For some reason, I have better luck when I work with women. I guess I have a good sense of sisterhood.

The sexiest people are thinkers. Nobody’s interested in somebody who’s just vain with a hole in their head, talking about the latest thing – there is no latest thing. It’s all rubbish.

Anyone who thinks must think of the next war as they would of suicide.

Beauty is an outward gift, which is seldom despised, except by those to whom it has been refused.

I’ve written all my songs on every single one of my records, and that’s what’s been fun about looking back.

I never wanted to perform and never proclaimed myself to be a performer.

No matter how long he lives, no man ever becomes as wise as the average woman of forty-eight.

I don’t think I’ve ever felt that same kind of peace, the kind of serenity that I felt after acknowledging that maybe I was going to die of this TB.

Women always excel men in that sort of wisdom which comes from experience. To be a woman is in itself a terrible experience.

There are no such things as Flowers there are only gladdened Leaves.

It is easy to be beautiful; it is difficult to appear so.

I’ll promise to go easier on drinking and to get to bed earlier, but not for you, fifty thousand dollars, or two-hundred and fifty thousand dollars will I give up women. They’re too much fun.

I hate being called an ‚icon.‘ I just don’t like it. That’s all there is to it.

In 1969, I gave up women and alcohol – it was the worst 20 minutes of my life.

I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day.

It is as necessary for man to live in beauty rather than ugliness as it is necessary for him to have food for an aching belly or rest for a weary body.

Remember that children, marriages, and flower gardens reflect the kind of care they get.

Whoever blushes is already guilty; true innocence is ashamed of nothing.

If one way be better than another, that you may be sure is nature’s way.

There are very few people who are going to look into the mirror and say, ‚That person I see is a savage monster;‘ instead, they make up some construction that justifies what they do.

I’m sorry, it’s true. Having children really changes your view on these things. We’re born, we live for a brief instant, and we die. It’s been happening for a long time. Technology is not changing it much – if at all.

What women need to understand is that men don’t communicate. It’s not intentional or on purpose. We’re just not as emotional. You ladies feel like you have to express yourselves.

There is no love of life without despair of life.