I had, as I told you, a great passion while still almost a child. When it was over, I divided myself in two, placing on one side the soul I kept for Art, and on the other, my body, which would have to fend for itself.

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

Our ignorance of history causes us to slander our own times.

Snicker on hearing his name: 'the gentleman who thinks we are descended from the apes.'

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.

Style is as much under the words as in the words. It is as much the soul as it is the flesh of a work.

My foregrounds are imaginary, my backgrounds real.