“There's the risk of being loved...and that would keep me from being happy.”

“Gula and Cali lie on their sides, their tiny adder-mouths showing the pink of their palates, their bodies throbbing with lustful and obscene dreams. The sky releases its burden of sun and color. Ey...”

“What did it matter if he existed for two or for twenty years? Happiness was the fact that he had existed.”

“Just as there is a moment when the artist must stop, when the sculpture must be left as it is, the painting untouchedjust as a determination not to know serves the maker more than all the resources...”

“I feel like getting married, or committing suicide, or subscribing to L'Illustration. Something desperate, you know.”

“Believe me there is no such thing as great suffering, great regret, great memory....everything is forgotten, even a great love. That's what's sad about life, and also what's wonderful about it. The...”

“Maybe if we stopped trying to achieve movie standards of greatness, we'd be happy with what we have.”

“Eh, brother, but nature has to be corrected and guided, otherwise we'd all drown in prejudices. Without that there wouldn't be even a single great man.”

“You were born with potential. You were born with goodness and trust. You were born with ideals and dreams. You were born with greatness. You were born with wings. You are not meant for crawling, so...”

“I have often wondered whether especially those days when we are forced to remain idle are not precisely the days spend in the most profound activity. Whether our actions themselves, even if they do...”

“To do great work one must be very idle as well as very industrious.”

“I want to say, in all seriousness, that a great deal of harm is being done in the modern world by belief in the virtuousness of work, and that the road to happiness and prosperity lies in an organi...”

“I often think about dogs when I think about work and retirement. There are many breeds of dog that just need to be working, and useful, or have a job of some kind, in order to be happy. Otherwise t...”

“Retirement is purgatory for the former sports star. The world outside organized sports is unforgiving.”

“Making a Christmas album is looked upon by some people as the thing you do when you are heading towards retirement.”