I think it's more difficult to live without a religion, definitely.

On Sunday morning I went out for a while in the neighbourhood; I bought some raisin bread. The day was warm but a little sad, as Sundays often are in Paris, especially when one doesn't believe in God.

I'd say that the question whether love still exists plays the same role in my novels as the question of God's existence in Dostoevsky.

The terrible predicament of a beautiful girl is that only an experienced womanizer, someone cynical and without scruple, feels up to the challenge. More often than not, she will lose her virginity to some filthy lowlife in what proves to be the first step in an irrevocable decline.

The world outside had its own rules, and those rules were not human.

The Americans are completely stupid. The intellectual level in any single European country is higher than in America.

Using a big word like 'plagiarism'... always causes some damage. It will always do lasting damage, like accusations of racism.