“The absence of the will to live is, alas, not sufficient to make one want to die.”

“I've lived so little that I tend to imagine I'm not going to die; it seems improbablethat human existence can be reduced to so little; one imagines, in spite of oneself,that sooner or later something is bound to happen. A big mistake. A life can just aswell be both empty and short. The days slip by indifferently, leaving neither trace normemory; and then all of a sudden they stop.”

“I don't like this world. I definitely do not like it. The society in which I live disgusts me; advertising sickens me; computers make me puke.”

“I hadn’t seen any novel make the statement that entering the workforce was like entering the grave. That from then on, nothing happens and you have to pretend to be interested in your work. And, furthermore, that some people have a sex life and others don’t just because some are more attractive than others. I wanted to acknowledge that if people don’t have a sex life, it’s not for some moral reason, it’s just because they’re ugly. Once you’ve said it, it sounds obvious, but I wanted to say it.”

“Das Leben, dachte Michel, müsste eigentlich etwas Einfaches sein; etwas, das man wie eine Aneinanderreihung endlos wiederholter kleiner Rituale erleben kann. Rituale, die etwas albern sein durften, aber an die man trotzdem glauben konnte. Ein Leben ohne große Erwartungen und ohne Dramen.”

“Gewiss hat sich die westliche Welt über alle Maßen für Philosophie und Politik interessiert und sich in geradezu unsinniger Weise um philosophische und politische Fragen gestritten; gewiss hat die westliche Welt auch eine wahre Leidenschaft für Literatur und Kunst entwickelt; aber nichts in ihrer ganzen Geschichte hat eine solche Bedeutung gehabt wie das Bedürfnis nach rationaler Gewissheit. Diesem Bedürfnis nach rationaler Gewissheit hat die westliche Welt schließlich alles geopfert: ihre Religion, ihr Glück, ihre Hoffnungen und letztlich ihr Leben.”

“You too, you took an interest in the world. That was long ago. I want you to cast your mind back to then. The domain of the rules was no longer enough for you; you were unable to love any longer in the domain of the rules; so you had to enter into the domain of the struggle. I ask you to go back to that precise moment. It was long ago, no? Cast your mind back: the water was cold. You are far from the edge, now. Oh yes! How far from the edge you are! You long believed in the existence of another shore; such is no longer the case. You go on swimming, though, and every movement you make brings you closer to drowning. You are suffocating, your lungs are on fire. The water seems colder and colder to you, more and more galling. You aren't that young anymore. Now you are going to die. Don't worry. I am here. I won't let you sink. Go on with your reading.”