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

The charms of the passing woman are generally in direct ratio to the swiftness of our passage.

I do my intellectual work inside myself, and once I am with my fellow creatures it is more or less a matter of indifference to me whether or not they are intelligent as long as they are kind, sincere, etc.

A picture's beauty does not depend on the things portrayed in it.

For although we know that the years pass, that youth gives way to old age, that fortunes and thrones crumble (even the most solid among them) and that fame is transitory, the manner in which—by means of a sort of snapshot—we take cognisance of this moving universe whirled along by Time, has the contrary effect of immobilising it.

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.

I had come in time to learn that it was a mistake to smile a friendly smile when somebody made a fool of me.