Living by proxy is always a precarious expedient.

In every society the artist or writer remains an outsider.

Old age is life's parody.

There is only one good. And that is to act according to the dictates of one's conscience.

Oppression tries to defend itself by its utility.

Tragedies are all right for a while: you are concerned, you are curious, you feel good. And then it gets repetitive, it doesn't advance, it grows dreadfully boring: it is so very boring, even for me.

They [Americans] want to believe that Good and Evil can be defined in precise categories, that Good is already, or will be easily achieved. ... if this optimism appears too superficial, they will try to create a kind of anti-God: the U.S.S.R. That is Evil, and it only needs to be annihilated to re-establish the reign of Good.