Adam's first domestic pet after the expulsion from Paradise was the serpent.

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.

There are some things one can only achieve by a deliberate leap in the opposite direction.

Youth is happy because it has the ability to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.

Beyond a certain point there is no return. This point has to be reached.

I answer one of your letters, then lie in bed in apparent calm, but my heart beats through my entire body and is conscious only of you. I belong to you; there is really no other way of expressing it, and that is not strong enough.

It is strange how little sharpsightedness women possess; they only notice whether they please, then whether they arouse pity, and finally, whether you look for compassion from them. That is all; come to think of it, it may even be enough, generally speaking.