It was night and I could see a large and calm lake, reflecting the moon. Black mountains rose around it. I arrived from between two of these mountains, I looked at the lake and the moon, and that was it, nothing else happened.

Writing is not a profession but a vocation of unhappiness. I don't think an artist can ever be happy.

A novelist is a man who doesn't like his mother.

I'm a bit like a sponge. When I'm not writing I absorb life like water. When I write I squeeze the sponge a little - and out comes, not water but ink.

I saw Mussolini tirelessly contemplate a parade of thousands of young men.

I adore life but I dont fear death. I just prefer to die as late as possible.

For 30 years I have tried to make it understood that there are no criminals.