Art is the human disposition of sensible or intelligible matter for an esthetic end.

Humanity's true moral test, its fundamental test…consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals.

it is wrong to chide the novel for being fascinated by mysterious coincidences... but it is right to chide man for being blind to such coincidences in his daily life. For he thereby deprives his life a dimension of beauty.

The great European novel started out as entertainment, and every true novelist is nostalgic for it. In fact, the themes of those great entertainments are terribly serious-think of Cervantes!

Yes, the essence of every love is a child, and it makes no difference at all whether it has ever actually been conceived or born. In the algebra of love a child is the symbol of the magical sum of two beings.

Merely by being born intelligent, you right away find yourself in absolute exile.

Dogs are our link to paradise. They don't know evil or jealousy or discontent.