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

One keeps forgetting old age up to the very brink of the grave.

Total absence of humor renders life impossible.

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.

I went to collect the few personal belongings which...I held to be invaluable: my cat, my resolve to travel, and my solitude.

Sincerity is not a spontaneous flower nor is modesty either.