In his younger days a man dreams of possessing the heart of the woman whom he loves; later, the feeling that he possesses the heart of a woman may be enough to make him fall in love with her.

The bonds between ourselves and another person exists only in our minds. Memory as it grows fainter loosens them, and notwithstanding the illusion by which we want to be duped and which, out of love, friendship, politeness, deference, duty, we dupe other people, we exist alone. Man is the creature who cannot escape from himself, who knows other people only in himself, and when he asserts the contrary, he is lying.

In summoning even the wisest of physicians to our aid, it is probably that he is relying upon a scientific "truth", the error of which will become obvious in just a few years' time.

The duty and the task of a writer are those of an interpreter.

What a profound significance small things assume when the woman we love conceals them from us.

According to a charming law of nature which is evident even in the most sophisticated societies, we live in complete ignorance of whatever we love.

You can't learn the truth about a man's intentions by asking him.