They are always talking about the fire of hell, but no one has ever seen it, my friends. For hell is cold.

More from Monsieur Ouine, 1943

• There’s no hatred that can ever be satisfied either in this world or the next, and the hatred that one has for oneself is probably the one for which there is no forgiveness.
• Appearances are nothing…. And first of all they should not be feared, they are only dangerous to the weak.
• First of all, be what you are.
• Hell is not to love anymore.
• I have just discovered something I have always known: we can no more escape from one another than we can escape from God.
• Only the present counts.