The arrogance of some Christians would close heaven to them if, to their misfortune, it existed.

Work would be terribly boring if one did not play the game all out, passionately.

In 1949, I believed that social progress, the triumph of the proletariat, socialism would lead to the emancipation of women. But I saw that nothing came of it: first of all, that socialism was not achieved anywhere, and that in certain countries which called themselves socialist, the situation of women was no better than it was in so-called capitalist countries.

Literature is born when something in life goes slightly adrift.

You can't define the future. And in my opinion, you can't define the avant-garde.

Every war, every revolution, demands the sacrifice of a generation, of a collectivity, by those who undertake it.

Literature in France seems to be undergoing a crisis now, and nothing comes immediately to mind.