The first and most important thing about any man is his vision, or conception, of the universe. The colour of all his art or culture or practical politics will be taken in the last resort from the question whether the picture of existence at the back of his mind is the picture of a chaos, or an order, or a race, or a covenant, or a battle, or a garden, or a wheel. Every battle in history that was anything more than a disorderly military review was a battle of gods, a war of universes, a war of the worlds [...] A man's conception of existence is the only important thing. Upon this depends whether he will paint a gorgeous picture or a sad one. Upon this also depends whether he will paint a sad picture or merely jump over London Bridge.

-January 2, 1902, Daily News