Suffering is by no means a privilege, a sign of nobility, a reminder of God. Suffering is a fierce, bestial thing, commonplace, uncalled for, natural as air. It is intangible; no one can grasp it or fight against it; it dwells in time - is the same thing as time; if it comes in fits and starts, that is only so as to leave the sufferer more defenseless during the moments that follow, those long moments when one relives the last bout of torture and waits for the next.

Waiting is still an occupation. It is having nothing to wait for that is terrible.

One stops being a child when one realizes that telling one's trouble does not make it any better.

All sins have their origin in a sense of inferiority otherwise called ambition.

Literature is a defense against the attacks of life. It says to life: You can't deceive me. I know your habits, foresee and enjoy watching all your reactions, and steal your secret by involving you in cunning obstructions that halt your normal flow.

The only joy in the world is to begin. It is good to be alive because living is beginning, always, every moment.

Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends