Somebody has to have the last word. If not, every argument could be opposed by another and we'd never be done with it.

Everybody knows that pestilences have a way of recurring in the world; yet somehow we find it hard to believe in ones that crash down on our heads from a blue sky.

We can't do without dominating others or being served.... The essential thing, in sum, is being able to get angry without the other person being able to answer back.

In fact, it comes to this: nobody is capable of really thinking about anyone, even in the worst calamity. For really to think about someone means thinking about that person every minute of the day, without letting one’s thoughts be diverted by anything- by meals, by a fly that settles on one’s cheek, by household duties, or by a sudden itch somewhere. But there are always flies and itches. That’s why life is difficult to live.

In order to be created, a work of art must first make use of the dark forces of the soul

The laws of nature may be operative up to a certain limit, beyond which they turn against themselves to give birth to the absurd.

Charm is a way of getting the answer 'Yes' without asking a clear question.