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

We are always remaking history. Our memory is always an interpretive reconstruction of the past, so is perspective.

Perhaps the mission of those who love mankind is to make people laugh at the truth, to make truth laugh, because the only truth lies in learning to free ourselves from insane passion for the truth.

And so I fell devoutly asleep and slept a long time, because young people seem to need sleep more than the old, who have already slept so much and are preparing to sleep for all eternity.

You are always born under the wrong sign, and to live in this world properly you have to rewrite your own horoscope day by day.

A dream is a scripture, and many scriptures are nothing but dreams.

You must overcome any shyness and have a conversation with the librarian, because he can offer you reliable advice that will save you much time. You must consider that the librarian (if not overworked or neurotic) is happy when he can demonstrate two things: the quality of his memory and erudition and the richness of his library, especially if it is small. The more isolated and disregarded the library, the more the librarian is consumed with sorrow for its underestimation. A person who asks for help makes the librarian happy.