A human being is a being who is constantly 'under construction,' but also, in a parallel fashion, always in a state of constant destruction.

Liking is probably the best form of ownership, and ownership the worst form of liking.

doubt is the privilege of those who have lived a long time

Strictly speaking, we do not make decisions. Decisions make us.

We say Fine, even though we may be dying, and this is commonly known as taking one's courage in both hands, a phenomenon that has only been observed in the human species.

People might ask me, What do you propose instead? I propose nothing. I am a mere novelist, I just write about the world as I see it. It is not my job to transform it. I cannot transform it all by myself, and I wouldn't even know how to. I limit myself to saying what I believe the world to be.

Every novel is like this, desperation, a frustrated attempt to save something of the past. Except that it still has not been established whether it is the novel that prevents man from forgetting himself or the impossibility of forgetfulness that makes him write novels.