Michel Houellebecq Quotes

I think that if writers don't speak about real life, it's because they don't know it.

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.

The press may hate me, and I know my battles with them are not over, but that doesn't matter.

Of course, we can distinguish between males and females; we can also, if we choose, distinguish between different age categories; but any more advanced distinction comes close to pedantry, probably a result of boredom. A creature that is bored elaborates distinctions and hierarchies. According to Hutchinson and Rawlins, the development of systems of hierarchical dominance within animal societies does not correspond to any practical necessity, nor to any selective advantage; it simply constitutes a means of combating the crushing boredom of life in the heart of nature.

I don't like this world. I definitely do not like it. The society in which I live disgusts me; advertising sickens me; computers make me puke.

Adolescence is not only an important period in life, but that it is the only period where one may speak of life in the full sense of the word.

The love of a dog is a pure thing. He gives you a trust which is total. You must not betray it.

Anything can happen in life, especially nothing.

Just like unrestrained economic liberalism, and for similar reasons, sexual liberalism produces phenomena of absolute pauperization. Some men make love every day; others five or six times in their life, or never. Some make love with dozens of women, others with none. It’s what’s known as ‘the law of the market’… In a totally liberal sexual system certain people have a varied and exciting erotic life; others are reduced to masturbation and solitude.

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

I admit that invective is one of my pleasures. This only brings me problems in life, but that's it. I attack, I insult. I have a gift for that, for insults, for provocation. So I am tempted to use it.

Islam is a dangerous religion.

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

It's a curious idea to reproduce when you don't even like life.

I want to be loved despite my faults. It isn't exactly true that I'm a provocateur. A real provocateur is someone who says things he doesn't think, just to shock. I try to say what I think.

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.

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.

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

Now abideth beauty, truth, and intensity; but the greatest of these is intensity.