Evil is the radiation of the human consciousness in certain transitional positions. It is not actually the sensual world that is amere appearance; what is so is the evil of it, which, admittedly, is what constitutes the sensual world in our eyes.

Writing is a deeper sleep than death. Just as one wouldn't pull a corpse from its grave, I can't be dragged from my desk at night.

Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy.

One of the most effective means of seduction that Evil has is the challenge to struggle. It is like the struggle with women, whichends in bed. A married man's true deviations from the path of virtue are, rightly understood, never gay.

I have spent my life resisting the desire to end it.

There was once a community of scoundrels, that is to say, they were not scoundrels, but ordinary people.

How can one take delight in the world unless one flees to it for refuge?