Through small apertures we glimpse abysses whose sombre depths turn us faint. And yet over the whole there hovers an extraordinary tenderness.

Better to work for yourself alone. You do as you like and follow your own ideas, you admire yourself and please yourself: isn’t that the main thing? And then the public is so stupid. Besides, who reads? And what do they read? And what do they admire?

It’s hard to communicate anything exactly and that’s why perfect relationships between people are difficult to find.

Life must be a constant education; one must learn everything, from speaking to dying.

Prose is like hair; it shines with combing.

One's existence should be in two parts: one should live like a bourgeois and think like a demigod.

To see one's name in print! Some people commit a crime for no other reason.