That my plans have lately gone somewhat awry is the sort of risk one must take if life is to be superb. - Gore Vidal

Once a country is habituated to liars, it takes generations to get the truth back.

After all, as educated men, we should realize that myths always stand for other things. They are toys for children teething. The man knows that the toy horse is not a true horse but merely suggests the idea of a horse to a baby's mind. When we pray before the statue of Zeus, though the statue contains him as everything must, the statue is not the god himself but only a suggestion of him. Surely, as fellow priests, we can be frank with one another about these grown-up matters.

American writers want to be not good but great; and so are neither.