There is no truth. There is only perception.

The true poet for me is a priest. As soon as he dons the cassock, he must leave his family.

One mustn't ask apple trees for oranges, France for sun, women for love, life for happiness.

Farming, a vocation accursed of heaven, since one never saw a millionaire involved in it.

Egypt is a great place for contrasts: splendid things gleam in the dust.

COLD. Healthier than heat.

But vilifying those we love always alienates us from them to a certain extent. Idols should not be touched: the gilding comes off on the hands.

Everything measurable passes, everything that can be counted has an end. Only three things are infinite: the sky in its stars, the sea in its drops of water, and the heart in its tears.

Judge the goodness of a book by the energy of the punches it has given you. I believe the greatest characteristic of genius, is, above all, force.

What is the beautiful, if not the impossible.

I detest my fellow-beings and do not feel that I am their fellow at all.

Read in order to live.

Everyone, either from modesty or egotism, hides away the best and most delicate of his soul's possessions; to gain the esteem of others, we must only ever show our ugliest sides; this is how we keep ourselves on the common level.

After a person dies, there is always something like a feeling of stupefaction, so difficult is it to comprehend this unexpected advent of nothingness and to resign oneself to believing it.

Be steady and well-ordered in your life so that you can be fierce and original in your work.

One mustn't always believe that feeling is everything. In the arts, it is nothing without form.

An infinity of passion can be contained in one minute, like a crowd in a small space.

Axiom: Hatred of the bourgeois is the beginning of wisdom.

The writer must wade into life as into the sea, but only up to the navel.

Caught up in life, you see it badly. You suffer from it or enjoy it too much. The artist, in my opinion, is a monstrosity, something outside of nature.