“In the fight between you and reality, be discouraging.”

“She misunderstood my method, in my opinion, not realizing that my approach, rather obscure to those unfamiliar, was based on the idea that in my struggle with reality, I could exhaust any opponent with whom I was grappling, like one can wear out an olive, for example, before successfully stabbing it with a fork, and that my propensity not to hasten matters, far from having a negative effect, in fact prepared for me a fertile ground where, when things seemed ripe, I could make my move with ease.”

“The chances of seeing an idea through to completion are inversely proportional to the time you’ve spent talking about it beforehand. ”

“Les meilleurs livres sont ceux dont on se souvient du fauteuil dans lequel on les a lus.”

“Il me semblait en effet qu'une idée, aussi brillante fût-elle, n'était pas vraiment digne d'être retenue si, pour simplement s'en souvenir, il fallait la noter.”

“In order to resist fear and discouragement, it is necessary that through prayer - through a personal experience of God re-encountered, recognized and loved in prayer - we taste and see how good the Lord is (Psalm 34).”

“My poem must expurgate my manhoodunveil the animality of the best of my being,reveal both the monster behind the friendly smileand the humanity of my most evil deeds;I shall undress the species to its pure nudity,relegate our vanity to the dustbin of time;I shall tell a new story.”