To read a poem in January is as lovely as to go for a walk in June

I am not recommending "popular" literature which aims at the lowest.

I will not be modest. Humble, as much as you like, but not modest. Modesty is the virtue of the lukewarm.

One cannot become a saint when one works sixteen hours a day.

I wanted the moments of my life to follow and order themselves like those of a life remembered. You might as well try and catch time by the tail.

One could only damage oneself through the harm one did to others. One could never get directly at oneself.

I considered calmly that I was born to write.