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.

I am indebted to the cat for a particular kind of honorable deceit, for a greater control over myself, for a characteristic aversion to brutal sounds, and for the need to keep silent for long periods of time.

If we want to be sincere, we must admit that there is a well-nourished love and an ill-nourished love. And the rest is literature.

You must not pity me because my sixtieth year finds me still astonished. To be astonished is one of the surest ways of not growing old too quickly.

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

I believe there are more urgent and honorable occupations than the incomparable waste of time we call suffering.

A few days later, I found my mother beneath the tree, motionless with excitement, her head turned toward the heavens in which she would allow human religions no place.