If we are to extract any joy out of our span, we must think and plan and make things better not only for ourselves but for others, since joy for ourselves depends upon our joy in others and theirs in us. Theodore Dreiser More Quotes by Theodore Dreiser More Quotes From Theodore Dreiser Assure a man that he has a soul and then frighten him with old wives' tales as to what is to become of him afterward, and you have hooked a fish, a mental slave. Theodore Dreiser wife scary men Life is a God-damned, stinking, treacherous game and nine hundred and ninety-nine men out of a thousand are bastards. Theodore Dreiser ninety-nine men life How true it is that words are but the vague shadows of the volumes we mean. Theodore Dreiser chakra shadow mean I believe in the compelling power of love. I do not understand it. I believe it to be the most fragrant blossom of all this thorny existence. Theodore Dreiser existence love believe In order to have wisdom we must have ignorance. Theodore Dreiser ignorance order Let no one underestimate the need of pity. We live in a stony universe whose hard, brilliant forces rage fiercely. Theodore Dreiser underestimate brilliant needs Art is the stored honey of the human soul, gathered on wings of misery and travail. Theodore Dreiser sadness wings art A thought will color a world for us. Theodore Dreiser color world People in general attach too much importance to words. They are under the illusion that talking effects great results. As a matter of fact, words are, as a rule, the shallowest portion of all the argument. They but dimly represent the great surging feelings and desires which lie behind. When the distraction of the tongue is removed, the heart listens. Theodore Dreiser heart talking lying You walk into a room, see a woman, and something happens. It's chemical. What are you going to do about it? Theodore Dreiser chemicals love rooms Love is the only thing you can really give in all this world. When you give love, you give everything. Theodore Dreiser love-you love-is giving I believe in the compelling power of love. Theodore Dreiser power-of-love compelling believe Nothing is proved, all is permitted. Theodore Dreiser Life is made for the strong. There is no mercy in it for the weak– none...Such is the tragedy of desire. Theodore Dreiser strong tragedy desire It is a sad thing to want for happiness, but it is a terrible thing to see another groping about blindly for it, when it is almost within the grasp. Theodore Dreiser sad-things terrible want The most futile thing in this world is any attempt, perhaps, at exact definition of character. All individuals are a bundle of contradictions - none more so than the most capable. Theodore Dreiser honesty character world The true meaning of money yet remains to be popularly explained and comprehended. Theodore Dreiser true-meaning remains If you have that unconquerable urge to write, nothing will stop you from writing. Theodore Dreiser unconquerable ifs writing Our civilization is still in a middle stage, scarcely beast, in that it is no longer wholly guided by instinct; scarcely human, in that it is not yet wholly guided by reason. Theodore Dreiser beast intuition civilization The thing that impressed me then as now about New York… was the sharp, and at the same time immense, contrast it showed between the dull and the shrewd, the strong and the weak, the rich and the poor, the wise and the ignorant… the strong, or those who ultimately dominated, were so very strong, and the weak so very, very weak - and so very, very many. Theodore Dreiser strong new-york wise