“Where there is no hope, it is incumbent on us to invent it.”

The evil that is in the world almost always comes from ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence if they lack understanding.

Since we’re all going to die, it’s obvious that when and how don’t matter.

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.

There is scarcely any passion without struggle.

The most important thing you do everyday you live is deciding not to kill yourself.

What made me run away was doubtless not so much the fear of settling down, but of settling down permanently in something ugly.

Man is always prey to his truths. Once he has admitted them, he cannot free himself from them.

I’ve never really had much of an imagination. But still I would try to picture the exact moment when the beating of my heart would no longer be going on inside my head.

Happiness and the absurd are two sons of the same earth. They are inseparable.

After awhile you could get used to anything.

And it was like knocking four quick times on the door of unhappiness.

Integrity has no need of rules.

Don’t walk behind me; I may not lead. Don’t walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

Every act of rebellion expresses a nostalgia for innocence and an appeal to the essence of being.

The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself.

We are all special cases.