It is when we are faced with death that we turn most bookish.

I am not sincere, even when I say I am not.

Our dream dashes itself against the great mystery like a wasp against a window pane. Less merciful than man, God never opens the window.

Let us stay at home: there we are decent. Let us not go out: our defects wait for us at the door, like flies.

When the defects of others are perceived with so much clarity, it is because one possesses them oneself.

To succeed you must add water to your wine, until there is no more wine.

Life is what our character makes it. We fashion it, as a snail does its shell. A man can say: I never made a fortune because it is not in my character to be rich.