Art is science in the flesh.

In Paris, everybody wants to be an actor; nobody is content to be a spectator.

He has the manner of a giant with the look of a child, a lazy activeness, a mad wisdom, a solitude encompassing the world.

What is line? It is life. A line must live at each point along its course in such a way that the artist's presence makes itself felt above that of the model... With the writer, line takes precedence over form and content. It runs through the words he assembles. It strikes a continuous note unperceived by ear or eye. It is, in a way, the soul's style, and if the line ceases to have a life of its own, if it only describes an arabesque, the soul is missing and the writing dies.

The greatest masterpiece in literature is only a dictionary out of order.

Whatever the world condemns you for, make it your own. It is yourself.

The Louvre is a morgue; you go there to identify your friends.