The scapegoat has always had the mysterious power of unleashing man's ferocious pleasure in torturing, corrupting, and befouling.

Every novel worthy of the name is like another planet, whether large or small, which has its own laws just as it has its own flora and fauna.

The arrogance of poets is only a defense; doubt gnaws the greatest among them; they need our testimony to escape despair.

Did you ever have a conversation with someone who misunderstood everything you had to say? It's exhausting, and the ironic part is that the more you try and explain yourself, the more mixed up things become. Your best friend knows when you're kidding, venting, and tired. He or she knows you and therefore doesn't read into the things you say.

If the flame inside you goes out, the souls that are next to you will die of cold.

A cemetery saddens us because it is the only place of the world in which we do not meet our dead again.

Where does discipline end? Where does cruelty begin? Somewhere between these, thousands of children inhabit a voiceless hell.