Except for music, everything is a lie, even solitude, even ecstasy. Music, in fact, is the one and the other, only better. Anathemas and Admirations (1987)
Each of us is born with a share of purity, predestined to be corrupted by our commerce with mankind, by that sin against solitude. A Short History of Decay (1949)
We replace God as best we can; for every god is good, provided he perpetuates in eternity our desire for a crucial solitude. . . . A Short History of Decay (1949)