Henry Adams Quotes

One of the surest signs of the Philistine is his reverence for the superior tastes of those who put him down.

Taste refers to the past, imagination to the future.

It's always irritated me that people say, 'Where's the action? Oh wow, there's no action here; let's go somewhere else.' These people will never find the action.

It is, of course, the first recourse of every elitist to see social barbarism in others.

Wine is valued by its price, not its flavour.

I won't say there aren't any Harvard graduates who have never asserted a superior attitude. But they have done so to our great embarrassment and in no way represent the Harvard I know.

What is food to one man is bitter poison to others.

All objects lose by too familiar a view.

Taste, which enables us to distinguish all that has a flavor from that which is insipid.

Taste is the feminine of genius.

The pushback I get is, 'He's a hedge fund guy.' Full stop. Some places, that can be a badge of honor. In others, it's almost a term of derision.

Taste is a result of a thousand distastes.

People who know, know. The others, it really doesn't matter.

To label me an intellectual is a misunderstanding of what that is.

Respect can be as elusive as the unicorn. I know something of this because I write books that are set in the Middle Ages, and the historical novel is often seen as the unwanted stepchild in the fictional family. I know even more about respect - or the lack thereof - because I live in New Jersey.

There are no actions involved in 'beautiful.' It's such an inactive thing, and it's so subject to each individual's taste and appreciation. It's a lovely word, but I feel like it's been hijacked by really boring, dull people who don't understand how to use words.

I had been an academic all my life. As academics, you tend to believe the smartest people are in academia.

You can't buy vision, and you can't buy aesthetic.

People think that Israelis are mean, evil people who only want to hurt Arabs all day.

I've had tweets questioning whether I really did go to university because surely I would have lost my accent if I did; a letter suggesting, very politely, that I get correction therapy; and an email saying I should get back to my council estate and leave the serious work to the clever folk.

Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope. They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only beauty.

Sometimes you have to gag on fancy before you can appreciate plain.

Who knows how to taste wine never drinks wine again, but tastes secrets instead

It is almost impossible to find those who admire us entirely lacking in taste.

True wit, to every man, is that which falls on another.