216 quotes
What do I care about Jupiter? Justice is a human issue, and I do not need a god to teach it to me.
The Flies (1943)
Farewell to the monsters, farewell to the saints. Farewell to pride. All that is left is men.
The Devil and the Good Lord (1951)
It is not the same thing. You are perhaps not lying, but you are not telling the truth.
The Devil and the Good Lord (1951)
If only you knew how little I care. Cowardly or not, as long as he is a good kisser.
No Exit (1944)
Ah! Do not judge the gods, young man, they have painful secrets.
The Flies (1943)
They are in bad faith — they are afraid — and fear, bad faith have an aroma that the gods find delicious. Yes, the gods like that, the pitiful souls.
The Flies (1943)
If you want to deserve Hell, you need only stay in bed. The world is iniquity; if you accept it, you are an accomplice, if you change it you are an executioner.
The Devil and the Good Lord (1951)
There are two types of poor people, those who are poor together and those who are poor alone. The first are the true poor, the others are rich people out of luck.
The Devil and the Good Lord (1951)
Similarly, individual acts of aristocratic generosity do not eliminate pauperism; they perpetuate it.
Saint Genet, Actor and Martyr (1952)
If we must absolutely mention this state of affairs, I suggest that we call ourselves "absent", that is more proper.
No Exit (1944)
His business is here, it is here that he is despised and vilified, it is here that he must carry out his undertaking
Saint Genet, Actor and Martyr (1952)
If literature isn't everything, it's not worth a single hour of someone's trouble.
Interview (1960)
I mistrust illuminations: what we take for a discovery is very often only a familiar thought that we have not recognized.
Saint Genet, Actor and Martyr (1952)
Admit it, it is your youth that you regret, more even than your crime; it is my youth you hate, even more than my innocence.
The Flies (1943)
The more absurd life is, the more unsupportable death is.
He chooses the most feared, most hated man in order to worship him as a god, feeling sure that he is alone in perceiving the god's secret virtues.
Saint Genet, Actor and Martyr (1952)
For man holds his ground only by surpassing himself, in the same sense in which it is said that one ceases to love if one does not love increasingly everyday.
Saint Genet, Actor and Martyr (1952)
This inner revolution is realistic because it maintains itself deliberately within the framework of existing institutions; the oppressed reckon with the real situation.
Saint Genet, Actor and Martyr (1952)
If you are not already dead, forgive. Rancor is heavy, it is worldly; leave it on earth: die light.
The Devil and the Good Lord (1951)
You, poor child, without toys or playmates, you played murder, because it is a game that one can play alone.
The Flies (1943)