What is reasoned has nothing to do with what is reasonable.
The man who spends all his time looking up to heaven is not always the best; in fact, he is usually the worst.
Who learns most from a good book is the author.
To light one candle to God and another to the Devil is the principle of wisdom.
Even if you’re not going anywhere, don’t get in the way.
Ignorance is learned; innocence is forgotten.
The barometer that shows “variable” is an ironic indictment of God.
When the English have scored a goal, they think nothing more remains to be done.
You need to have a God, a lover, and an enemy, says the poet. Exactly: you need to have three enemies.
I fear only that which I love, says man, according to Montaigne. Woman replies: I love only that which I fear.
Morality measured in centimeters: all mothers believe that only their daughters dance decently.
Erik Satie does not say the opposite of Debussy; he says the same thing only the other way round.
When you are listening to music it is better to cover your eyes than your ears.
To be young is to live in the hope of escaping youth; to be old, in the despair of having succeeded.
All true tradition usually appears revolutionary.
A rocket is a reed that thinks brilliantly.
The quality of a man’s mind can generally be judged by the size of his wastepaper basket.
We say of an animal that it is intelligent, and we say the same thing of a woman; but in neither case is it usually appropriate, clearly for very different reasons.
To be thirsty and to drink water is the perfection of sensuality rarely achieved. Sometimes you drink water; other times you are thirsty.
The novel is born of disillusionment; the poem, of despair.