His tongue is by turns a sponge, a brush, a comb. He cleans himself, he smooths himself, he knows what is proper.

We study ourselves three weeks, we love each other three months, we squabble three years, we tolerate each other thirty years, and then the children start all over again.

I wish to reproduce things as they are or as they would be even if I myself did not exist.

I've met many thinkers and many cats, but the wisdom of cats is infinitely superior.

To have a true idea of man or of life, one must have stood himself on the brink of suicide, or on the door-sill of insanity, at least once.

The search for causes must come after the collection of facts.

Four varieties in society: lovers, the ambitious, observers, and fools. The fools are the happiest.