At the moment of childbirth, every woman has the same aura of isolation, as though she were abandoned, alone.

I have the impression that if he didn't complicate his life so needlessly, he would die of boredom.

What for centuries raised man above the beast is not the cudgel but the irresistible power of unarmed truth.

The most extraordinary discoveries are made when the artist is overwhelmed by what he has to say.

A literary creation can appeal to us in all sorts of ways-by its theme, subject, situations, characters. But above all it appeals to us by the presence in it of art. It is the presence of art in Crime and Punishment that moves us deeply rather than the story of Raskolnikov's crime.

A conscious attempt to fall asleep is sure to produce insomnia, to try to be conscious of one's own digestion is a sure way to upset the stomach. Consciousness is a poison when we apply it to ourselves. Consciousness is a light directed outward. it's like the headlights on a locomotive—turn them inward and you'd have a crash.

I come here to speak poetry. It will always be in the grass. It will also be necessary to bend down to hear it. It will always be too simple to be discussed in assemblies.