With a little luck that epoch may arrive. I am on the side of those who think that things will go better when the world has changed.

I never could bear the idea of anyone's expecting something from me. It always made me want to do just the opposite.

When my relations with the Communist Party gave me the necessary perspective I decided to write my autobiography. I wanted to show how a man can pass from literature held sacred to action which nevertheless remains that of an intellectual.

To believe is to know you believe, and to know you believe is not to believe.

What I ask of [the writer] is not to ignore the reality and the fundamental problems that exist. The world's hunger, the atomic threat, the alienation of man, I am astonished that they do not color all our literature.

It's just what people do when they're getting old, when they're sick of themselves and their life; they think of money and take care of themselves.

There is no book of mine that I reject. That does not mean that I find them good.