The form [of literature] matters little to me, classical or not.

What I see is teeming cohesion, contained dispersal... For him, to sculpt is to take the fat off space.

I have seen children dying of hunger. Over against a dying child La Nausee cannot act as a counterweight.

My eyes feel all soft, all soft as flesh. I'm going to sleep.

In a country lacking leaders, in Africa, for instance, how could a native educated in Europe refuse to become a professor, even at the price of his literary vocation?

The lad who dreams of being a boxing champion or an admiral chooses reality. If the writer chooses the imaginary, he confuses the two.

[M]an is condemned to be free. Condemned, because he did not create himself, in other respect is free; because, once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does. The Existentialist does not believe in the power of passion. He will never agree that a sweeping passion is a ravaging torrent which fatally leads a man to certain acts and is therefore an excuse. He thinks that man is responsible for his passion.