Georges Simenon

“Writing is not a profession but a vocation of unhappiness.”

“I would like to carve my novel in a piece of wood.”

“A writer is a man who is more sensitive than other people. And he's a man who is not ashamed of it.”

“We are all potentially characters in a novel--with the difference that characters in a novel are interesting.”

“It's a question of rhythm. In a novel everything is rhythm.”

“My motto is: 'to understand and not to judge'.”

“The novelist is a man who doesn't have to be ashamed of being a voyeur.”

“Understanding is not a piercing of the mystery, but an acceptance of it, a loving embrace of it.”

“I am an artisan. I need to work with my hands.”

“The writer's career is a spiritual journey. It is a voyage of discovery into the self, into the world.”