Take [Stéphane] Mallarme. I hold him to be the greatest of French poets, and I have taken some time to understand him !

Existence is prior to essence.

Once we know and are aware, we are responsible for our action and our inaction. We can do something about it or ignore it. Either way, we are still responsible.

A writer who takes political, social or literary positions must act only with the means that are his. These means are the written words.

My pessimism has never been flabby.

I am going to outlive myself. Eat, sleep, sleep, eat. Exist slowly, softly, like these trees, like a puddle of water, like the red bench in the streetcar.

The plight of modern man is that he is condemmed to be free.