The welfare of the people in particular has always been the alibi of tyrants.

The welfare of the people in particular has always been the alibi of tyrants, and it provides the further advantage of giving the servants of tyranny a good conscience

It is necessary to fall in love – the better to provide an alibi for all the despair we are going to feel anyway.

It is necessary to fall in love... if only to provide an alibi for all the random despair you are going to feel anyway.

We always deceive ourselves twice about the people we love - first to their advantage, then to their disadvantage.

Working conditions for me have always been those of the monastic life: solitude and frugality. Except for frugality, they are contrary to my nature, so much so that work is a violence I do to myself.