The actual tragedies of life bear no relation to one's preconceived ideas. In the event, one is always bewildered by their simplicity, their grandeur of design, and by that element of the bizarre which seems inherent in them.

May the devil himself splatter you with dung.

Alas! I do not believe that inspiration falls from heaven. think it rather the result of a profound indolence.

Commissions suit me. They set limits. Jean Marais dared me to write play in which he would not speak in the first act, would weep for joy in the second and in the last would fall backward down a flight of stairs.

Expect neither reward nor beatitude. Return noble waves for ignoble.

Listen carefully to first criticisms made of your work. Note just what it is about your work that critics don't like - then cultivate it. That's the only part of your work that's individual and worth keeping.

There are truths which one can only say after having won the right to say them.