Whoever starts out toward the unknown must consent to venture alone.

To love the truth is to refuse to let oneself be saddened by it.

We live counterfeit lives in order to resemble the idea we first had of ourselves.

Art is a collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does the better.

The true hypocrite is the one who ceases to perceive his deception, the one who lies with sincerity.

The artist who is after success lets himself be influenced by the public. Generally such an artist contributes nothing new, for the public acclaims only what it already knows, what it recognizes.

It is unthinkable for a Frenchman to arrive at middle age without having syphilis and the Cross of the Legion of Honor.