Our minds have unbelievable power over our bodies.

Two human beings anchored to one another are like two ships shaken by waves; their carcases collide with one another and creak.

A man cannot free himself from the past more easily than he can from his own body.

Happiness is never there to stay [...] Happiness is merely a respite offered by inquietude.

The minds of different generations are as impenetrable one by the other as are the monads of Leibniz.

Almost all great writers have as their motif, more or less disguised, the passage from childhood to maturity, the clash between the thrill of expectation and the disillusioning knowledge of truth. 'Lost Illusion' is the undisclosed title of every novel.

The art of reading is in great part that of acquiring a better understanding of life from one's encounter with it in a book.