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

A good sentence in prose should be like a good line in poetry, unchangeable, as rhythmic, as sonorous.

Thought is the greatest of pleasures —pleasure itself is only imagination—have you ever enjoyed anything more than your dreams?

You don’t make art out of good intentions.

Writing this book I am like a man playing the piano with lead balls attached to his knuckles.

I love my work with a frenetic and perverse love, as an ascetic loves the hair shirt which scratches his belly.

The only way to avoid being unhappy is to close yourself up in Art and to count for nothing all the rest.