All happiness is a form of innocence.

nothing is slower than the true birth of a man

Our true birthplace is that in which we cast for the first time an intelligent eye on ourselves. My first homelands were my books.

I am not sure that the discovery of love is necessarily more exquisite than the discovery of poetry.

To stay in one place and watch the seasons come and go is tanatmount to constant travel: One is traveling with the earth.

This morning it occurred to me for the first time that my body, my faithful companion and friend, truer and better known to me than my own soul, may be after all only a sly beast who will end by devouring his master.

Leaving behind books is even more beautiful — there are far too many children.