Blushing, palpitations, a bad conscience--this is what you get if you haven't sinned.

One's need for loneliness is not satisfied if one sits at a table alone. There must be empty chairs as well.

I saw a poet chase a butterfly in a meadow. He put his net on a bench where a boy sat reading a book. It's a misfortune that it is usually the other way round.

To me all men are equal: there are jackasses everywhere, and I have the same contempt for them all.

My request that my writing be read twice has aroused great indignation. Unjustly so. After all, I do not ask that they be read once.

How is the world ruled and led to war? Diplomats lie to journalists and believe these lies when they see them in print.

A white lie is always pardonable. But he who tells the truth without compulsion merits no leniency.