Beware in the presence of cats: they never give, they do not even retaliate--they only reply, and purr in doing so.

love as a passion—it is our European specialty—must absolutely be of noble origin; as is well known, its invention is due to the Provencal poet-cavaliers, those brilliant, ingenious men of the "gai saber," to whom Europe owes so much, and almost owes itself.

...throw roses into the abyss and say: 'here is my thanks to the monster who didn't succeed in swallowing me alive.

Praise is more obtrusive than a reproach.

The hypocrite who always plays one and the same part ceases at last to be a hypocrite.

The most serious parody I have ever heard was this: In the beginning was nonsense, and the nonsense was with God, and the nonsense was God.

What good is all this free-thinking, modernity, and turncoat flexibility if at some gut level you are still a Christian, a Catholic, and even a priest!