Ordinary people waited till life disclosed to them its secrets, but to the few, to the elect, the mysteries of life were revealed before the veil was drawn away. Sometimes this was the effect of art, and chiefly of the art of literature, which dealt immediately with the passions and the intellect.

Genius lasts longer than beauty

Only good questions deserve good answers.

My Salome is a mystic the sister of Salammbô a Saint Thérèse who worships the moon.

What a silly thing love is! It is not half as useful as logic, for it does not prove anything and it is always telling one things that are not going to happen, and making one believe things that are not true.

Time is a waste of money.

The intellect is not a serious thing, and never has been. It is an instrument on which one plays, that is all.