I think I am a much better actor than I have allowed myself to be.

Any new possibility that existence acquires, even the least likely, transforms everything about existence.

When I was a little boy in short pants, I dreamed about a miraculous ointment that would make me invisible. Then I became an adult, began to write, and wanted to be successful. Now I'm successful and would like to have the ointment that would make me invisible.

Such are the Splendors and Miseries of memory: it is proud of its ability to keep truthful track of the logical sequence of past events; but when it comes to how we experienced them at the time, memory feels no obligation to truth.

Two people in love, alone, isolated from the world, that's beautiful.

The stupidity of people comes from having an answer for everything. The wisdom of the novel comes from having a question for everything.

The novelist teaches the reader to comprehend the world as a question.