This life is a hospital in which every patient is possessed with a desire to change his bed.

Common sense tells us that the things of the earth exist only a little, and that true reality is only in dreams.

The lover of life makes the whole world into his family, just as the lover of the fair sex creates his from all the lovely women he has found, from those that could be found, and those who are impossible to find.

For the merchant, even honesty is a financial speculation.

Any healthy man can go without food for two days - but not without poetry.

There are as many kinds of beauty as there are habitual ways of seeking happiness.

I love Wagner, but the music I prefer is that of a cat hung up by its tail outside a window and trying to stick to the panes of glass with its claws.

Those men get along best with women who can get along best without them.

The unique and supreme voluptuousness of love lies in the certainty of committing evil. And men and women know from birth that in evil is found all sensual delight.

I love Wagner, but the music I prefer is that of a cat hung up by its tail outside a window and trying to stick to the panes of glass with its claws.