Much more than our other needs and endeavors, it is sexuality that puts us on an even footing with our kind: the more we practice it, the more we become like everyone else: it is in the performance of a reputedly bestial function that we prove our status as citizens: nothing is more public than the sexual act.

There was a time when time did not yet exist.

When people come to me saying they want to kill themselves, I tell them, "What’s your rush? You can kill yourself any time you like. So calm down. Suicide is a positive act." And they do calm down.

Music is the refuge of souls ulcerated by happiness.

Truths begin by a conflict with the police - and end by calling them in.

Every thought derives from a thwarted sensation.

Far from diminishing the appetite for power, suffering exasperates it.