“The really great novel tends to be the exact negative of its author’s life.”

If men could regard the events of their own lives with more open minds, they would frequently discover that they did not really desire the things they failed to obtain.

In literature as in love, we are astonished at what is chosen by others.

A happy marriage is a long conversation which always seems too short.

Business is a combination of war and sport.

The most important quality in a leader is that of being acknowledged as such. All leaders whose fitness is questioned are clearly lacking in force.

Self-pity comes so naturally to all of us.

To be witty is not enough. One must possess sufficient wit to avoid having too much of it.

An artist must be a reactionary. He has to stand out against the tenor of the age and not go flopping along.

Growing old is no more than a bad habit which a busy person has no time to form.

Old age is far more than white hair, wrinkles, the feeling that it is too late and the game finished, that the stage belongs to the rising generations.

The most solid happiness can be shaken by the compassion of a fool.

Memory is a great artist. For every man and for every woman it makes the recollection of his or her life a work of art and an unfaithful record.

If you create an act, you create a habit. If you create a habit, you create a character. If you create a character, you create a destiny.

A marriage without conflicts is almost as inconceivable as a nation without crises.

Smile, for everyone lacks self-confidence and more than any other one thing a smile reassures them.

Lost Illusion is the undisclosed title of every novel.

It’s almost as important as Shakespeare’s to be or not to be which deals with death.

He is still my favourite author, and he is the one – I still think – who writes most honestly about human existence.

The books, the authors who matter the most are those who speak to me and speak for me all those things about life I most need to hear as the confession of myself

Anthony Heilbut has been a guide and a mentor to me. I know of no one who has the love and depth of knowledge of this extraordinary author.

Trust in your abilities and you’re the author of your own destiny.

The sower of the seed is assuredly the author of the whole harvest of mischief.

I’m dedicated to bringing to life what the author is trying to portray.

The authors I prefer are all very different and are not limited to certain genres or even certain time periods.