The Book of Tea (1906)

Their wordsTeaism is a cult founded on the adoration of the beautiful among the sordid facts of everyday existence.

Their wordsThose who cannot feel the littleness of great things in themselves are apt to overlook the greatness of little things in others.

Their wordsFain would we remain barbarians, if our claim to civilisation were to be based on the gruesome glory of war.

Their wordsWe have developed along different lines, but there is no reason why one should not supplement the other.

Their wordsSlavish conformity to traditions and formulas fetters the expression of individuality in architecture.

Their wordsIn art vanity is equally fatal to sympathetic feeling, whether on the part of the artist or the public.

Their wordsThe past may well look with pity at the poverty of our civilisation; the future will laugh at the barrenness of our art. We are destroying the beautiful in life.