We swallow with one gulp the lie that flatters us, and drink drop by drop the truth which is bitter to us.

Whether God exists or does not exist, He has come to rank among the most sublime and useless truths.

I have not the hope of being immortal, because the desire of it has not given me that vanity.

My friend, you should blow out your candle in order to find your way more clearly.

What is a monster? A being whose survival is incompatible with the existing order.

The fact is that she was terribly undressed and I was extremely undressed too. The fact is that I still had my hand where she didn't have anything and she had hers where the same wasn't quite true of me. The fact is that I found myself underneath her and consequently she found herself on top of me.

Oh! how near are genius and madness! Men imprison them and chain them, or raise statues to them.