One mustn't always believe that feeling is everything. In the arts, it is nothing without form.

I like prostitution. My heart has never failed to pound at the sight of one of those provocatively dressed women walking in the rain under the gaslamps, just as the sight of monks in their robes and girdles touches some ascetic, hidden corner of my soul.

The cult of art gives pride; one never has too much of it.

Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.

Do not read, as children do, to amuse yourself, or like the ambitious, for the purpose of instruction. No, read in order to live.

I go from exasperation to a state of collapse, then I recover and go from prostration to Fury, so that my average state is one of being annoyed.

To be stupid, selfish, and have good health are three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost.