When we hit a nail with a hammer, the whole of the shock received by the large head of the nail passes into the point without any of it being lost, although it is only a point. If the hammer and the head of the nail were infinitely big it would be just the same. The point of the nail would transmit this infinite shock at the point to which it was applied. Extreme affliction, which means physical pain, distress of soul and social degradation, all at the same time, constitutes the nail. The point is applied at the very center of the soul, whose head is all necessity, spreading throughout space and time.

Sin is not a distance, it is a turning of our gaze in the wrong direction.

The work of art which I do not make, none other will ever make.

Time does us violence; it is the only violence.

A doctrine serves no purpose in itself, but it is indispensable to have one if only to avoid being deceived by false doctrines.

I only read what I am hungry for at the moment when I have an appetite for it, and then I do not read, I eat.

Religion as a source of consolation is an obstacle to true faith.