I have an attitude now that is immovable. I shall remain outside of the world, beyond the temporal, beyond all the organizations of the world. I only believe in poetry.
I say quotations are literary. They are good only when dealing with ideas, not with experience. Experience should be pure, unique.
Poetry is the alchemy which teaches us to convert ordinary materials into gold.
Only when the poet and the scientist work in unison will we have living experiences and knowledge of the marvels of the universe as they are being discovered.
There is no denying that we are suffering from a collective neurosis and the novel which does not face this is not a novel of our time.
Tropical nights are hammocks for lovers.
In New York the acoustics are good for laughter, for life is all external, all action, no thought, no meditation, no dreaming, no reflection, only the exuberance of action.
New York seems conducted by jazz, animated by it. It is essentially a city of rhythm.
Paris-New York, the two high tension magnetic poles between life, life of the senses, of the spirit in Paris, and life in action in New York.
New York has an electronic heart.
Nothing endures unless it has first been transposed into a myth, and the great advantage of myths is that they are ladies with portable roots.
Writing more and more to the sound of music, writing more and more like music. Sitting in my studio tonight, playing record after record, writing, music a stimulant of the highest order, far more potent than wine.
I see myself wrapped in lies, which do not seem to penetrate my soul, as if they are not really a part of me. They are like costumes.
The way to recognize a dead word is that it exudes boredom.
To change skins, evolve into new cycles, I feel one has to learn to discard.
The unconscious can become destructive if it is disregarded and thwarted.
Most artists have retired too absolutely; they grow rusty, inflexible to the flow of currents.
I know no joy as great as a moment of rushing into a new love, no ecstasy like that of a new love.
I spell ‘god’ with a small ‘g’ because I do not believe in him, but I love to swear by him.
I never liked the language of Henry Miller. I don’t think pornography has added to our sensual life.