I now, weak, old, diseased, poor, dying, hold still my soul in my hands, and I regret nothing.

The ideas for stories that thronged my brain would not let me rest till I had got rid of them by writing them.

People ask for criticism, but they only want praise.

If truth is a value it is because it is true and not because it is brave to speak it.

Look after your laundry, and your soul will look after itself.

The nature of men and women - their essential nature - is so vile and despicable that if you were to portray a person as he really is, no one would believe you.

I have an idea that the only thing which makes it possible to regard this world we live in without disgust is the beauty which now and then men create out of the chaos. The pictures they paint, the music they compose, the books they write, and the lives they lead. Of all these the richest in beauty is the beautiful life. That is the perfect work of art.