We all have these places where shy humiliations gambol on sunny afternoons.

If the most significant characteristic of man is the complex of biological needs he shares with all members of his species, then the best lives for the writer to observe are those in which the role of natural necessity is clearest, namely, the lives of the very poor.

The commonest ivory tower is that of the average man, the state of passivity towards experience.

Most people enjoy the sight of their own handwriting as they enjoy the smell of their own farts.

Private faces in public places Are wiser and nicer Than public faces in private places.

To me Art's subject is the human clay, / And landscape but a background to a torso; / All Cezanne's apples I would give away / For one small Goya or a Daumier.

Great art is clear thinking about mixed feelings.