“Life is so horrible that one can only bear it by avoiding it. And that can be done by living in the world of art.”

“Listen to me. I can live without a kidney. I can live without football. I can live without a lot of things. There is only one thing in this world i can't live without. And i'm giving her my kidney so she can live, so we can be together.”

“The world looks so beautiful! She wonders how one can not do for it anything that needs to be done, or at least all one can do.”

“Perhaps it's good for one to suffer. Can an artist do anything if he's happy? Would he ever want to do anything? What is art, after all, but a protest against the horrible inclemency of life?”

“There is a great deal of pain in life and perhaps the only pain that can be avoided is the pain that comes from trying to avoid pain. ”

“Can it be that I have not lived as one ought?" suddenly came into his head. "But how not so, when I've done everything as it should be done?”