A writer must refuse to allow himself to be transformed into an institution, even if it takes place in the most honorable form.

We are our choices.

Outside nature, against nature, without excuse, beyond remedy, except what remedy I find within myself.

Man's existence precedes his essence

What never vary are the necessities of being in the world, of having to labor and to die there.

For an occurrence to become an adventure, it is necessary and sufficient for one to recount it.

All I want is' - and he uttered the final words through clenched teeth and with a sort of shame - 'to retain my freedom.' I should myself have thought,' said Jacques, 'that freedom consisted in frankly confronting situations into which one had deliberately entered, and accepting all one's responsibilities. But that, no doubt, is not your view.