A picture of my existence... would show a useless wooden stake covered in snow... stuck loosely at a slant in the ground in a ploughed field on the edge of a vast open plain on a dark winter night.

The Fathers of the Church were not afraid to go out into the desert because they had a richness in their hearts. But we, with richness all around us, are afraid, because the desert is in our hearts.

He is a free and secure citizen of the world because he is on a chain that is long enough to allow him access to all parts of the earth, and yet not so long that he could be swept over the edge of it.

If there is a transmigration of souls then I am not yet on the bottom rung. My life is a hesitation before birth.

there is nothing bad to fear; once you have crossed that threshold, all is well. Another world, and you do not have to speak

My life was sweeter than other people's and my death will be more terrible by the same degree.

I am free and that is why I am lost.