Where would his torture be, indeed, if at every step the hope of succeeding upheld him?

There can be no question of holding forth on ethics. I have seen people behave badly with great morality and I note every day that integrity has no need of rules

Those who weep for the happy periods which they encounter in history acknowledge what they want; not the alleviation but the silencing of misery.

Accepting the absurdity of everything around us is one step, a necessary experience: it should not become a dead end. It arouses a revolt that can become fruitful

I feel like getting married, or committing suicide, or subscribing to L'Illustration. Something desperate, you know.

There was the same dazzling red glare. The sea gasped for air with each shallow, stifled wave that broke on the sand. ...with every blade of light that flashed off the sand, from a bleached shell or a peice of broken glass, my jaws tightened. I walked for a long time.

I sometimes need to write things which I cannot completely control but which therefore prove that what is in me is stronger than I am.