I was not the one to invent lies: they were created in a society divided by class and each of us inherited lies when we were born. It is not by refusing to lie that we will abolish lies: it is by eradicating class by any means necessary.

I found the human heart empty and insipid everywhere except in books.

Everything that exists is born for no reason, carries on living through weakness, and dies by accident

In football everything is complicated by the presence of the opposite team.

This is the basis for the joy of love when there is joy; we feel that our existence is justified.

Like all dreamers, I mistook disenchantment for truth.

I am finishing a biography of [Gustave] Flaubert. Because he is the opposite of what I am. One needs to rub up against argument.