Quotes from book

The Fall

“You know what charm is: a way of getting the answer 'yes' without having asked any clear question.”

“For anyone who is alone, without God and without a master, the weight of days is dreadful. Hence one must choose a master, God being out of style.”

“Truth, like light, blinds. Falsehood, on the contrary, is a beautiful twilight that enhances every object.”

“The essential is to cease being free and to obey, in repentance, a greater rogue than oneself. When we are all guilty, that will be democracy.”

“Let’s not beat around the bush; I love life — that’s my real weakness. I love it so much that I am incapable of imagining what is not life.”

“This is the truth," we say. "You can discuss it as much as you want; we aren't interested. But in a few years there'll be the police who will show you we are right.”

“In order to cease being a doubtful case, one has to cease being, that's all.”

“Martyrs must choose between being forgotten, mocked, or made use of. As for being understood—never!”

“Do not wait for the Last Judgment. It takes place every day.”

“God is not needed to create guilt or to punish. Our fellow men suffice, aided by ourselves.”

“Thus I progressed on the surface of life, in the realm of words as it were, never in reality. All those books barely read, those friends barely loved, those cities barely visited, those women barely possessed! I went through the gestures out of boredom or absent-mindedness. Then came the human beings, they wanted to cling, but there was nothing to cling to, and that was unfortunate – for them. As for me, I forgot. I never remembered anything but myself.”