In the twentieth century, death terrifies men less than the absence of real life.

Who wants a world in which the guarantee that we shall not die of starvation entails the risk of dying of boredom?

The eruption of lived pleasure is such that in losing myself I find myself; forgetting that I exist, I realize myself.

Suffering is the pain of constraints. An atom of pure delight, no matter how small, can hold it at bay.

Purchasing power is a license to purchase power.

To be rich nowadays merely means to possess a large number of poor objects.

Work to survive, survive by consuming, survive to consume; the hellish cycle is complete.

The work of art of the future will be the construction of a passionate life.

The world of the commodity is a world upside-down, which bases itself not upon life but upon the transformation of life into work.

Work is the opposite of creativity.

Everything has been said yet few have taken advantage of it. Since all our knowledge is essentially banal, it can only be of value to minds that are not.

Awkward silences rule the world. People are so terrified of awkward silences that they will literally go to war rather than face an awkward silence.

I write letters to my right brain all the time. They're just little notes. And right brain, who likes to get little notes from me, will often come through within a day or two.

Never give importance to anyone more than yourself, because once that person becomes important, you become nothing....

Get on top of the obstacles and they become vantage points.

I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity.

Africa is poor because she is not free.

She whom I love is hard to catch and conquer, Hard, but O the glory of the winning were she won!

Eyes and ears are poor witnesses to people if they have uncultured souls.

Nothing is more piquant than when a man of genius possesses mannerisms; not so when they possess him -- this leads to spiritual petrification.

It seems as if an age of genius must be succeeded by an age of endeavour; riot and extravagance by cleanliness and hard work.