“To dream of the person you would like to be is to waste the person you are.”

“Writing comes more easily if you have something to say.”

“Not the power to remember, but its very opposite, the power to forget, is a necessary condition for our existence.”

“I love the place; the magnificent books; I require books as I require air.”

“There is nothing in the world, I tell you, so maddening as a person who doesn't answer when you abuse him. You shout and you scold, you are ready to burst a gut, and he stands there and smiles....”

“Life is a dream for the wise, a game for the fool, a comedy for the rich, a tragedy for the poor.”

“You see how it is, my dear friends. There's no pleasing everyone. It's hopeless to even try, and the more you play the peacemaker, the less peaceful things become.”