Monsters exist because they are part of the divine plan, and in the horrible features of those same monsters the power of the creator is revealed.

A library's ideal function is to be a little bit like a bouquiniste's stall, a place for trouvailles.

Semiotics is in principle the discipline studying everything which can be used in order to lie. If something cannot be used to tell a lie, conversely it cannot be used to tell the truth: it cannot in fact be used "to tell" at all.

the first quality of an honest man is contempt for religion, which would have us afraid of the most natural thing in the world, which is death; and would have us hate the one beautiful thing destiny has given us, which is life.

When one starts writing a book, especially a novel, even the humblest person in the world hopes to become Homer.

The Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, is seen as the beginning of modern depravity.

In the United States there's a Puritan ethic and a mythology of success. He who is successful is good. In Latin countries, in Catholic countries, a successful person is a sinner.