“At the bottom of all patriotism there is war: that is why I am no patriot.”

“When I think of all the books still left for me to read, I am certain of further happiness.”

“The story I am writing exists, written in absolutely perfect fashion, some place, in the air. All I must do is find it, and copy it.”

“I am never bored; to be bored is an insult to one's self.”

“I have no religion,’ says Borneau, ‘but I respect the religion of others. Religion is sacred.’ Why this privilege, this immunity?... A believer creates God in his own image; if he is ugly, his God will be morally ugly. Why should moral ugliness be respectable?”

“Posterity! Why should people be less stupid tomorrow than they are today?”

“Don't tell a woman she's pretty; tell her there's no other woman like her, and all roads will open to you”