As soon as there is language, generality has entered the scene.

Why is it apparently the philosopher who is expected to be "easier" and not some scientist or other who is even more inaccessible to the same readers?

Monsters cannot be announced. One cannot say: 'Here are our monsters,' without immediately turning the monsters into pets.

Peace is only possible when one of the warring sides takes the first step, the hazardous initiative, the risk of opening up dialogue, and decides to make the gesture that will lead not only to an armistice but to peace.

I believe in the value of the book, which keeps something irreplaceable, and in the necessity of fighting to secure its respect.

The traditional statement about language is that it is in itself living, and that writing is the dead part of language.

These years of the Ecole Normale were an ordeal. Nothing was handed to me on the first try.