In that daily effort in which intelligence and passion mingle and delight each other, the absurd man discovers a discipline that will make up the greatest of his strengths. The required diligence and doggedness and lucidity thus resemble the conqueror's attitude. To create is likewise to give a shape to one's fate. For all these characters, their work defines them at least as much as it is defined by them. The actor taught us this: There is no frontier between being and appearing.

In Holland, everyone is an expert in painting and in tulips.

There is only one class of men, the privileged class

The world I live in is loathsome to me, but I feel one with the men who suffer in it

A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world.

A work of art is a confession.

Men like us are good and proud and strong...if we had a faith, a God, nothing could undermine us. But we had nothing, we had to learn everything, and living for honor alone has its weaknesses.