“The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely.”

“It is not acceptable for people to completely cover themselves on the street. It [the Islamic veil] threatens public order and security. Plus it is a terrifying sight. Get rid of that woman-humiliating Islamic symbol.”

“One must have the adventurous daring to accept oneself as a bundle of possibilities and undertake the most interesting game in the world — making the most of one's best.”

“You can never really know someone completely. That’s why it’s the most terrifying thing in the world, really—taking someone on faith, hoping they’ll take you on faith too. It’s such a precarious balance, It’s a wonder we do it at all. And yet..”

“Nothing is harder than to accept oneself.”

“Accepting oneself does not preclude an attempt to become better.”

“The courage to be is the courage to accept oneself, in spite of being unacceptable.”

“The attempt to devote oneself to literature alone is a most deceptive thing, and … often, paradoxically, it is literature that suffers for it.”

“Humility is throwing oneself away in complete concentration on something or someone else.”

“Nothing is worth more than laughter. It is strength to laugh and to abandon oneself, to be light. Tragedy is the most ridiculous thing.”