Here, beside this great black surface that is my desk, I feel as though I am on a desert island.

It is the only thing we can do. Each of us must turn inward and destroy in himself all that he thinks he ought to destroy in others. And remember that every atom of hate that we add to this world makes it sill more inhospitable

I'm afraid I did not pray hard enough last night.

Sometimes I try my hand at turning out small profundities and uncertain short stories, but I always end up with just one single word: God.

Every word born of an inner necessity - writing must never be anything else.

After each creative act one has to be sustained by one's strength of character, by a moral sense, by I don't know what, lest one tumble.

I really see no other solution than to turn inwards and to root out all the rottenness there. I no longer believe that we can change anything in the world until we first change ourselves. And that seems to me the only lesson to be learned.