The true poet for me is a priest. As soon as he dons the cassock, he must leave his family.

The writer must wade into life as into the sea, but only up to the navel.

He had the vanity to believe men did not like him – while men simply did not know him.

The denigration of those we love always detaches us from them in some degree. Never touch your idols: the gilding will stick to your fingers.

But, in her life, nothing was going to happen. Such was the will of God! The future was a dark corridor, and at the far end the door was bolted.

There are three thing in the world I love most: the sea, Hamlet, and Don Giovanni.

Earth has its boundaries, but human stupidity is limitless.