I need solitude for my writing; not 'like a hermit' - that wouldn't be enough - but like a dead man.

Most men are not wicked... They are sleep-walkers, not evil evildoers.

Photography concentrates one's eye on the superficial. For that reason it obscures the hidden life which glimmers through the outlines of things like a play of light and shade. One can't catch that even with the sharpest lens.

Everyone strives to attain the Law,' answers the man, 'how does it come about, then, that in all these years no one has come seeking admittance but me?' The doorkeeper perceives that the man is nearing his end and his hearing is failing, so he bellows in his ear: 'No one but you could gain admittance through this door, since this door was intended for you. I am now going to shut it.

So eager are our people to obliterate the present.

You, who can't do anything, think you can bring off something like that? How can you even dare to think about it? If you were capable of it, you certainly wouldn't be in need of it.

I made the remark that I don't avoid people in order to live quietly, but rather in order to be able to die quietly.