Michel Houellebecq quotes

I don't like this world. I definitely do not like it. The society in which I live disgusts me; advertising sickens me; computers make me puke. (Michel Houellebecq)
As a teenager, Michel believed that suffering conferred dignity on a person. Now he had to admit that he had been wrong. What conferred dignity on people was television. View quote
Michel Houellebecq
When we think about the present, we veer wildly between the belief in chance and the evidence in favour of determinism. When we think about the past, however, it seems obvious that everything happened in the way that it was intended. View quote
Michel Houellebecq
Anything can happen in life, especially nothing. View quote
Michel Houellebecq
Those who love life do not read. Nor do they go to the movies, actually. No matter what might be said, access to the artistic universe is more or less entirely the preserve of those who are a little fed up with the world. View quote
Michel Houellebecq
The absence of the will to live is, alas, not sufficient to make one want to die. View quote
Michel Houellebecq
Love binds, and it binds forever. Good binds while evil unravels. Separation is another word for evil; it is also another word for deceit. View quote
Michel Houellebecq
Tenderness is a deeper instinct than seduction, which is why it is so hard to give up hope. View quote
Michel Houellebecq
The world outside had its own rules, and those rules were not human. View quote
Michel Houellebecq
Not having anything around to read is dangerous: you have to content yourself with life itself, and that can lead you to take risks. View quote
Michel Houellebecq
Life is painful and disappointing. It is useless, therefore, to write new realistic novels. We generally know where we stand in relation to reality and don't care to know any more. (Michel Houellebecq)
To increase desires to an unbearable level whilst making the fulfillment of them more and more inaccessible: this was the single principle upon which Western society was based. View quote
Michel Houellebecq
If life is an illusion it's a pretty painful one. View quote
Michel Houellebecq
It is in our relations with other people that we gain a sense of ourselves; it's that, pretty much, that makes relations with other people unbearable. View quote
Michel Houellebecq
The love of a dog is a pure thing. He gives you a trust which is total. You must not betray it. View quote
Michel Houellebecq
I admit that invective is one of my pleasures. This only brings me problems in life, but that's it. I attack, I insult. I have a gift for that, for insults, for provocation. So I am tempted to use it. View quote
Michel Houellebecq
Using a big word like 'plagiarism'... always causes some damage. It will always do lasting damage, like accusations of racism. View quote
Michel Houellebecq
It may well be impossible for people who have lived and prospered under a given social system to imagine the point of view of those who feel it offers them nothing, and who can contemplate its destruction without any particular dismay. View quote
Michel Houellebecq
You get used to terrorist attacks. France will hold on. The French will hold on, without even needing a "sursaut national,” a national pushback reflex. They'll hold on because there's no other way, and because you get used to everything. No human force, not even fear, is stronger than habit. View quote
Michel Houellebecq
It's a curious idea to reproduce when you don't even like life. View quote
Michel Houellebecq
It's hard to understand other people, to know what's hidden in their hearts, and without the assistance of alcohol it might never be done at all. (Michel Houellebecq)
... beds last on an average much longer than marriages... View quote
Michel Houellebecq
The past is always beautiful. So, for that matter, is the future. Only the present hurts, and we carry it around like an abscess of suffering, our compassion between two infinities of happiness and peace. View quote
Michel Houellebecq
Only literature can grant you access to a spirit from beyond the grave-a more direct, more complete, deeper access than you'd have in conversation with a friend. View quote
Michel Houellebecq
Separation is another word for evil; it is also another word for deceit. All that exists is a magnificent interweaving, vast and reciprocal. View quote
Michel Houellebecq