I love my past, I love my present. I am not ashamed of what I have had, and I am not sad because I no longer have it.

Chance, my master and my friend, will, I feel sure, deign once again to send me the spirits of his unruly kingdom. All my trust is now in him- and in myself. But above all in him, for when I go under he always fishes me out, seizing and shaking me like a life-saving dog whose teeth tear my skin a little every time. So now, whenever I despair, I no longer expect my end, but some bit of luck, some commonplace little miracle which, like a glittering link, will mend again the necklace of my days.

My true friends have always given me that supreme proof of devotion, a spontaneous aversion for the man I loved.

There is no need to waste pity on young girls who are having their moments of disillusionment, for in another moment they will recover their illusion.

There are days when solitude, for someone my age, is a heady wine that intoxicates you with freedom, others when it is a bitter tonic, and still others when it is a poison that makes you beat your head against the wall.

Look for a long time at what pleases you, and a longer time at what pains you.

No temptation can ever be measured by the value of its object.