Dry happiness is like dry bread. We eat, but we do not dine. I wish for the superfluous, for the useless, for the extravagant, for the too much, for that which is not good for anything.

Excitement is not enjoyment: in calmness lies true pleasure. The most precious wines are sipped, not bolted at a swallow.

I'm religiously opposed to religion.

To learn to read is to light a fire.

Art needs no spur beyond itself.

Diamonds are found only in the dark places of the earth, truths are found only in the depths of thought.

The most beautiful of altars, he said, is the soul of an unhappy creature consoled and thankfing God.