When everything goes wrong, what a joy to test your soul and see if it has endurance and courage! An invisible and all-powerful enemy—some call him God, others the Devil, seem to rush upon us to destroy us; but we are not destroyed.

Yes, there is weeping, even in heaven, but it is for those who are still crawling on the earth.

In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can.

Every village has its simpleton, and if one does not exist they invent one to pass the time.

Life's true face is the skull.

Everything in this world has a hidden meaning, I thought. Men, animals, trees, stars, they are all hieroglyphics; woe to anyone who begins to decipher them and guess what they mean.... When you see them, you do not understand them. You think they are really men, animals, trees, stars. It is only years later, too late, that you understand.

I was ill before I fell ill.