The single fact of existing is already a true happiness.

Humanity lives in its fiction.

Photogenic is a stupid, nonsensical word, but it is also a great mystery.

Only a soul full of despair can ever attain serenity and, to be in despair, you must have loved a good deal and still love the world.

One's life, from being an exterior thing, grows inwards. Its intensity stays the same; and, d'you know, it's most mysterious, the corners in which the joy of living can sometimes hide away.

I'm not an extraordinary worker, I'm an extraordinary daydreamer. I exceed all my fantasies-even that of writing.

A writer should never install himself before a panorama, however grandiose it may be.

Writing is a noble privilege compared with the lot of most people, who live like parts of a machine, who live only to keep the gears of society pointlessly turning.

Life The machine The human soul A 75mm breech My portrait

Without the help of selfishness, the human animal would never have developed. Egoism is the vine by which man hoisted himself out of the swamp and escaped from the jungle.

My poor life This shawl Frayed on strongboxes full of gold I roll along with Dream And smoke And the only flame in the universe

Critics are to authors what dogs are to lamp-posts.

If you can't say something good about someone sit right here by me.

If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.

I flashed her a smile, but she didn't even look at me. So for brains and good judgment, I'd give her a three.

Marriage is like a formality for me.

Read The Golden Key several times. Do exactly what it says, and if you are persistent enough you will overcome any difficulty.

The Lord gave us power in proportion to the work to be done, and strength according to the race set before us, and grace and help as our needs required.

We live in an era of organized irresponsibility.

I don't like it, to be honest, when politicians make a big thing of their religious beliefs, so I don't make a big thing of it.

Best friends are people you know you don't need to talk to every single day. You don't even need to talk to each other for weeks, but when you do, it's like you never stopped talking.