It is necessary to work, if not from inclination, at least from despair. Everything considered, work is less boring than amusing oneself.

What can an eternity of damnation matter to someone who has felt, if only for a second, the infinity of delight?

One must work, if not from inclination, at least out of despair — since it proves, on close examination, that work is less boring than amusing oneself.

The immense appetite we have for biography comes from a deep-seated sense of equality.

I can barely conceive of a type of beauty in which there is no Melancholy.

It is the pleasure of astonishing others, and the proud satisfaction of never being astonished by them.

For each letter received from a creditor, write fifty lines on an extraterrestrial subject and you will be saved.