Any work that aspires, however humbly, to the condition of art should carry its justification in every line.

The revolutionary spirit is mighty convenient in this, that it frees one from all scruples as regards ideas.

Do not talk to me of Archimedes' lever. He was an absent-minded person with a mathematical imagination. Mathematics commands my respect, but I have no use for engines. Give me the right word and the right accent and I will move the world.

Certain streets have an atmosphere of their own, a sort of universal fame and the particular affection of their citizens. One of such streets is the Cannebiere, and the jest: "If Paris had a Cannebiere, it would be a little Marseilles" is the jocular expression of municipal pride. I, too, I have been under the spell. For me it has been a street leading into the unknown.

I am afraid that if you want to go down into history you'll have to do something for it.

You know I hate, detest, and can't bear a lie, not because I am straighter than the rest of us, but simply because it appals me. There is a taint of death, a flavour of mortality in lies - which is exactly what I hate and detest in the world - what I want to forget.

The blight of futility that lies in wait for men's speeches had fallen upon our conversation and made it a thing of empty sounds.