“The morality of art consists, for everyone, in the side that flatters its own interests. People do not like literature.”

“The public wants work which flatters its illusions.”

“Do not imagine you can exorcise what oppresses you in life by giving vent to it in art. ”

“Let us not kid ourselves; let us remember that literature is of no use whatever, except in the very special case of somebody's wishing to become, of all things, a Professor of Literature.”

“On certain occasions art can shake very ordinary spirits, and whole worlds can be revealed by its clumsiest interpreters.”

“In her enthusiasms she had always looked for something tangible: she had always loved church for its flowers, music for its romantic words, literature for its power to stir the passions and she rebelled before the mysteries of faith just as she grew ever more restive under discipline, which was antipathetic to her nature.”

“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”