"Oh, if I had been loved at the age of seventeen, what an idiot I would be today. Happiness is like smallpox: if you catch it too soon, it can completely ruin your constitution."
"To be stupid, selfish, and have good health are three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost."
"The most glorious moments in your life are not the so-called days of success, but rather those days when out of dejection and despair you feel rise in you a challenge to life, and the promise of future accomplishments."
"Happiness is a monstrosity! Punished are those who seek it."
"I have the handicap of being born with a special language to which I alone have the key."
"One mustn't ask apple trees for oranges, France for sun, women for love, life for happiness."
"Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work."
"Love is a springtime plant that perfumes everything with its hope, even the ruins to which it clings."
"Of all lies, art is the least untrue."
"Artists who seek perfection in everything are those who cannot attain it in anything."
