Wherever I see some mystique, be it virtue or family, faith or fatherland, there I must commit some indecent act.

I didn't go to the lectures. My valet, who was more distinguished than I, went instead.

Man does not fear death, only the suffering.

A brilliant liar; he has total recall.

Our element is unending immaturity.

I became bold because I had absolutely nothing to lose: neither honors, nor earnings, nor friends. I had to find myself anew and rely only on myself, because I could rely on no one else. My form is my solitude.

I am reading Sienkiewicz. What tormenting reading. What a powerful genius! And there never was such a first-rate writer of the second-rate class.