Absolute freedom mocks at justice. Absolute justice denies freedom.

There are places where the mind dies so that a truth which is its very denial may be born.

Thus I progressed on the surface of life, in the realm of words as it were, never in reality. All those books barely read, those friends barely loved, those cities barely visited, those women barely possessed! I went through the gestures out of boredom or absent-mindedness. Then came human beings; they wanted to cling, but there was nothing to cling to, and that was unfortunate--for them. As for me, I forgot. I never remembered anything but myself.

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.

At times I feel myself overtaken by an immense tenderness for these people around me who live in the same century.

Only it takes time to be happy. A lot of time. Happiness, too, is a long patience.

The look of success, when it is worn a certain way, would infuriate a jackass.