Art requires neither complaisance nor politeness; nothing but faith, faith and freedom.

I have no use for the kind of God who goes walking in his garden with a stick, sends his friends to live in the bellies of whales, gives up the ghost with a groan and then comes back to life three days later!

What stops me from taking myself seriously, even though I am essentially a serious person, is that I find myself extremely ridiculous, not in the sense of the small-scale ridiculousness of slap-stick comedy, but rather in the sense of ridiculousness that seems intrinsic to human life and that manifests itself in the simplest actions and the most extraordinary gestures.

Casting aspersions on those we love always does something to loosen our ties. We shouldn't maltreat our idols: the gilt comes off on our hands.

Madame Aubain's servant Felicite was the envy of the ladies of Pont-l'Eveque for half a century.

They took each other's advice, opened one book, went over to another, then did not know what to decide when opinions diverged so widely.

The more you approach infinity, the deeper you penetrate terror