It is this imagination that makes the difference in men. I tell you that he would be true. So that, in my judgment, the great mission of the stage is to cultivate the human imagination. That is the reason fiction has done so much good. Compared with the stupid lies called history, how beautiful are the imagined things with painted wings.
Imagination is the mother of enthusiasm.
And there is a reason for this. Because, if that religion be true, there should be no amusement. Stop the orchestra, ring down the curtain, and be as miserable as you can. And that is why I have said joy is Pagan. It comes from a love of nature, from a love of this world, from a love of this life.