“I wanted to show how a man of sensitive and noble character, born for ...” — Mary Augusta Ward Quote

I wanted to show how a man of sensitive and noble character, born for religion, comes to throw off the orthodoxies of his day and moment, and to go out into the wilderness where all is experiment, and spiritual life begins again.

A modern girls' school, equipped as scores are now equipped throughout the country, was of course not to be found in 1858, when I first became a school boarder, or in 1867, when I ceased to be one.

A life spent largely among books, and in the exercise of a literary profession, has very obvious drawbacks, as a subject-matter, when one comes to write about it.

How little those who are schoolgirls of today can realize what it was to be a schoolgirl in the fifties or the early sixties of the last century!

I don't really hear much music these days that grabs me. I think there are a lot of reasons for this but the overriding one is that there aren't as many opportunities for a band to get good or experiment or start the next wave of something.

'Bronson' was like, 'I'll do a movie about my own life.' And it became like an experiment.

I like to be underdressed rather than overdressed. For an event or a premiere, it's fun to dress up more - then I like to experiment.

A lot of times, I run a thought experiment: 'If I were not at Facebook, what would I be doing to make the world more open?'