Courage, determination, and hard work are all very nice, but not so nice as an oil well in the back yard.

The villain may be good looking, but his smile is never quite right.

Every representation, even of an orgy, is a sublimation.

Profundity often goes past the issue to some deep but useless truth.

To succeed, find the right rut and stay with it.

Nothing goes sour more easily than the life of pleasure.

Perversity depends on reversal and substitution.

Great talkers do not stop for breath, and never look at the clock.

A small boy puts his hand on the wall, and looks down intently as he wriggles his toes. The birth of thought?

Holding unconventional opinions makes people feel they have strong characters.

The madness of love can always be suspended -- to cook dinner or catch a plane, for instance.

Guilt agonizes over trifles, ignores habitual wrongdoing.

Aimless drifting also fulfills an intention.

The same old thing -- even if it's champagne -- is still the same old thing.

Old photograph: amid the set poses of her family, a young girl smiles and raises her hand a little.

Self-absorption intensifies isolation, but permits it to go unnoticed.

Minds will wander even during the Last Judgment.

Totem poles and wooden masks no longer suggest tribal villages but fashionable drawing rooms in New York and Paris.

Fastidious taste makes enjoyment a struggle.

The neuroses parody the virtues.