If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don't put it there.

The time has come for writers, especially those who are artists, to admit that in this world one cannot make anything out, just as Socrates once admitted it, just as Voltaire admitted it.

Love is a scandal of the personal sort.

The world perishes not from bandits and fires, but from hatred, hostility, and all these petty squabbles.

If I had listened to the critics I'd have died drunk in the gutter

When asked, "Why do you always wear black?", he said, "I am mourning for my life.

You look boldly ahead; isn't it only that you don't see or divine anything terrible in the future; because life is still hidden from your young eyes.