Henry Miller

The ordinary man is involved in action, the hero acts. An immense difference.

The worst sin that can be committed against the artist is to take him at his word, to see in his work a fulfillment instead of an horizon.

Instead of asking 'How much damage will the work in question bring about?' why not ask 'How much good? How much joy?'

Why are we so full of restraint? Why do we not give in all directions? Is it fear of losing ourselves? Until we do lose ourselves there is no hope of finding ourselves.

Whatever I do is done out of sheer joy; I drop my fruits like a ripe tree. What the general reader or the critic makes of them is not my concern.

Our own physical body possesses a wisdom which we who inhabit the body lack. We give it orders which make no sense.

If we are always arriving and departing, it is also true that we are eternally anchored. One's destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things.

True strength lies in submission which permits one to dedicate his life, through devotion, to something beyond himself.

The new always carries with it the sense of violation, of sacrilege. What is dead is sacred; what is new, that is different, is evil, dangerous, or subversive.

Back of every creation, supporting it like an arch, is faith. Enthusiasm is nothing: it comes and goes. But if one believes, then miracles occur.

What distinguishes the majority of men from the few is their ability to act according to their beliefs.

No man is great enough or wise enough for any of us to surrender our destiny to. The only way in which anyone can lead us is to restore to us the belief in our own guidance.