Every year lays more earth upon us, which weighs us down from aerial regions, till we go under the earth at last.

Not a single man on earth knows from his own experience the how and where of his birth, only from tradition, which is often very uncertain.

I may be permitted, kind reader, to doubt whether you have ever been enclosed in a glass bottle, unless some vivid dream has teased you with such magical mishaps.

Why should not a writer be permitted to make use of the levers of fear, terror and horror because some feeble soul here and there finds it more than it can bear? Shall there be no strong meat at table because there happen to be some guests there whose stomachs are weak, or who have spoiled their own digestions?

It is true that writers often owe their most inspired thoughts, their most extraordinary phrases, to their generous typesetters, who assist their flights of fancy with so-called typographical errors.

It is only in the morning that one should marry, read unfavourable reviews, make one's will, beat one's servants, and so forth.

Think of the wonderful circles in which our whole being moves and from which we cannot escape no matter how we try. The circler circles in these circles.