The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work. (Emile Zola)

I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. (Ian L. Fleming)

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good. (Samuel Johnson)

The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds, and the pessimist fears this is true. (James Branch Cabell)