Writing is a noble privilege compared with the lot of most people, who live like parts of a machine, who live only to keep the gears of society pointlessly turning.

Humanity lives in its fiction.

Photogenic is a stupid, nonsensical word, but it is also a great mystery.

Only a soul full of despair can ever attain serenity and, to be in despair, you must have loved a good deal and still love the world.

One's life, from being an exterior thing, grows inwards. Its intensity stays the same; and, d'you know, it's most mysterious, the corners in which the joy of living can sometimes hide away.

The single fact of existing is already a true happiness.

I'm not an extraordinary worker, I'm an extraordinary daydreamer. I exceed all my fantasies-even that of writing.

A writer should never install himself before a panorama, however grandiose it may be.

Life The machine The human soul A 75mm breech My portrait

Without the help of selfishness, the human animal would never have developed. Egoism is the vine by which man hoisted himself out of the swamp and escaped from the jungle.

My poor life This shawl Frayed on strongboxes full of gold I roll along with Dream And smoke And the only flame in the universe

It is crucial for us to understand the origins of our low self-esteem before we can transcend it.

A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of others.

We are not in the least afraid of ruins. We are going to inherit the earth; there is not the slightest doubt about that.

The great corrupter of public men is the ego - corrupter because distracter. Wealth, sensuality, power cannot hold a candle to it. Looking in the mirror distracts one's attention from the problem.

I was totally against the war in Iraq, you can check Reuters, July of oh-four, I was against it, I said you are going to destabilize.

When any part of humanity is sidelined, the rest of us cannot sit on the sidelines.

If you really wanna be a rebel, read your bible.

The soul can never be corrupted with the corruption of the body, but it is like the wind which causes the sound of the organ, and which ceases to produce a good effect when a pipe is spoilt.

A corporation is a state created institution, state supported institution, its concentration of private power, there is no reason why it should have the rights of persons.

We pray that henceforth not only Japan but all mankind may know the blessings of harmony and progress.