So it comes to this; one doesn’t need rest. Why bother about sleep if one isn’t sleepy? That stands to reason, doesn’t it? Wait a minute, there’s a snag somewhere; something disagreeable. Why, now, should it be disagreeable? …Ah, I see; it’s life without a break.

I had spent my time counterfeiting eternity.

I was a neophyte in another world [in 1954].

A lost battle is a battle one thinks one has lost.

It is always more valuable to report the truth.

Man is fully responsible for his nature and his choices.

If I did not publish this autobiography [Les Mots] sooner and in its most radical form, it is because I considered it exaggerated.