The art of writing is mysterious, the opinions we hold are ephemeral.

Let others pride themselves about how many pages they have written; I'd rather boast about the ones I've read.

One concept corrupts and confuses the others. I am not speaking of the Evil whose limited sphere is ethics; I am speaking of the infinite.

In the critic's vocabulary, the word "precursor" is indispensable, but it should be cleansed of all connotations of polemic or rivalry. The fact is that every writer creates his own precursors. His work modifies our conception of the past, as it will modify the future." -- Essay: "Kafka and his Precursors

A book is not an isolated being: it is a relationship, an axis of innumerable relationships

No one is a poet from eight to twelve and from two to six. Whoever is a poet is one always, and continually assaulted by poetry.

Loneliness does not worry me; life is difficult enough, putting up with yourself and with your own habits.