A couple who go on living together merely because that was how they began, without any other reason: was that what we were turning into?

One can hardly tell women that washing up saucepans is their divine mission, [so] they are told that bringing up children is their divine mission. But the way things are in the world, bringing up children has a great deal in common with washing up saucepans.

To give space when what one most yearns for is closeness, that is both the great test and great tragedy of love.

I had never believed in the sacred nature of literature. God had died when I was fourteen.

One is not born a genius, one becomes a genius; and the feminine situation has up to the present rendered this becoming practically impossible.

The curse which lies upon marriage is that too often the individuals are joined in their weakness rather than in their strength - each asking from the other instead of finding pleasure in giving.

Sign of old age: distress at all leave-takings, all separations. And the sadness of memories, because I'm aware they're condemned to death.