I think that if I am notorious, it is because other people have decided that this is how I should be.

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

As a teenager, Michel believed that suffering conferred dignity on a person. Now he had to admit that he had been wrong. What conferred dignity on people was television.

Rumor had it that he was homosexual; in reality, in recent years, he was simply a garden-variety alcoholic.

Irony won't save you from anything; humour doesn't do anything at all. You can look at life ironically for years, maybe decades; there are people who seem to go through most of their lives seeing the funny side, but in the end, life always breaks your heart. Doesn't matter how brave you are, or how reserved, or how much you've developed a sense of humour, you still end up with your heart broken. That's when you stop laughing.

Not having anything around to read is dangerous: you have to content yourself with life itself, and that can lead you to take risks.

If life is an illusion it's a pretty painful one.