Anathemas and Admirations

Everything by which we excel proceeds from a murky and suspect source — from our depths, in fact.

You look after yourself as best you can.

Writing is the creature’s revenge, and his answer to a botched Creation.

Writing and worship do not go together: like it or not, to speak of God is to regard Him from on high.

n the middle of a sentence, how easily one believes oneself the center of the world!

To write is to get free of one’s remorse and one’s rancors, to vomit up one’s secrets.

Inspiration? A sudden disequilibrium, an inordinate pleasure in affirming or destroying oneself.

I WANT TO WRITE only in an explosive state, in a fever or under great nervous tension, in an atmosphere of settling accounts, where invectives replace blows and slaps.

Do not be afraid of meeting him: of all creatures, the least intolerable are those who hate human beings. Never run away from a misanthrope.

To be sick is to coincide totally with oneself.