I do not love men: I love what devours them.

The true hypocrite is the one who ceases to perceive his deception, the one who lies with sincerity.

It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.

I have a horror of rest; possessions encourage one to indulge in it, and there's nothing like security for making one fall asleep; I like life well enough to live it awake, and so, in the very midst of my riches, I maintain the sensation of a state of precariousness, by which means I aggravate, or at any rate intensify, my life. I will not say I like danger, but I like life to be hazardous, and I want it to demand at every moment the whole of my courage, my happiness, my health...

It is better to be hated for what you are than be loved for something you are not.

Know that joy is rarer, more difficult, and more beautiful than sadness. Once you make this all-important discovery, you must embrace joy as a moral obligation.