As an elderly man, I have remained estranged from the society here.

Brief is this existence, as a visit in a strange house. The path to be pursued is poorly lit by a flickering consciousness.

From the viewpoint of a Jesuit priest I am, of course, and have always been an atheist.

The discovery of nuclear reactions need not bring about the destruction of mankind any more than the discovery of matches.

When a blind beetle crawls over the surface of a globe he doesn't notice that the track he has covered is curved. I was lucky enough to have spotted it.

I soon learned to scent out that which was able to lead to fundamentals and to turn aside from everything else, from the multitude of things which clutter up the mind and divert it from the essential.

I do not believe in free will. Schopenhauer's words: 'Man can do what he wants, but he cannot will what he wills,' accompany me in all situations throughout my life and reconcile me with the actions of others, even if they are rather painful to me. This awareness of the lack of free will keeps me from taking myself and my fellow men too seriously as acting and deciding individuals, and from losing my temper.