There is nothing like literature: I lose a cow, I write about her death, and my writing pays me enough to buy another cow.

if I were to begin my life again, I should want it as it was. I would only open my eyes a little more.

Fame is a constant effort

Do not ask me to be kind; just ask me to act as though I were.

I have no religion,’ says Borneau, ‘but I respect the religion of others. Religion is sacred.’ Why this privilege, this immunity?... A believer creates God in his own image; if he is ugly, his God will be morally ugly. Why should moral ugliness be respectable?

Walks. The body advances, while the mind flutters around it like a bird.

Look for the ridiculous in everything and you will find it.