Quotes from Michel Houellebecq

Et en quoi une vie a-t-elle besoin d'être justifiée ? La totalité des animaux, l'écrasante majorité des hommes vivent sans jamais éprouver le moindre besoin de justification. Ils vivent parce qu'ils vivent et voilà tout, c'est comme ça qu'ils raisonnent ; ensuite je suppose qu'ils meurent parce qu'ils meurent, et que ceci, à leurs yeux, termine l'analyse.

For the French, an intellectual didn't have to be responsible. That wasn't his job.

Cand iubirea a disparut, viata devine oarecum conventionala si silnica; pastrezi o forma umana, comportamentele obisnuite, un soi de structura, dar sufletul, cum se spune, e gol.

Much, maybe too much, has been written about literature.

What could we do, then? We asked ourselves the question while crossing the dunes. Live? It's precisely in this kind of situation that, crushed by the sense of their own insignificance, people decide to have children; this is how the species reproduces, although less and less, it must be said.

For the first time in my life I'd started thinking about God, seriously imagining that there could be a kind of Creator of the universe observing everything I did, and my first reaction was uncomplicated, pure and simple fear.

Seule la littérature peut vous permettre d'entrer en contact avec l'esprit d'un mort, de manière plus directe, plus complète et plus profonde que ne le ferait même la conversation avec un ami

That hole she had at the base of her belly must appear so useless to her; a prick can always be cut off, but how do you forget the emptiness of a vagina?

Përgjithësisht, grave u mungon humori, prandaj ato e shohin humorin si pjesë të cilësive burrërore".

an intellectual didn't have to be responsible. That wasn't his job. In

I once met a girl – a pretty, attractive girl – who told me she fantasised about Jean-François Copé. It took me several days to get over it. Really, with girls today, all bets are off.

Joissakin yhteiskunnissa kysytään ensin, onko hän naimisissa ja onko hänellä lapsia; meidän yhteiskunnassamme ihmiseltä kysytään ensimmäiseksi ammattia. Länsimaisen ihmisen määrittää hänen paikkansa tuotantoketjussa, ei niinkään status suvunjatkajana.

A través de los perros rendimos homenaje al amor y a su posibilidad. ¿Qué es un perro sino una máquina de amor? Le ponen delante a un ser humano, le encargan la misión de amarlo y, por poco agraciado, perverso, deforme o estúpido que sea el ser humano, el perro lo ama.

Happy are those who are satisfied by life, who amuse themselves, who are content.

Yet the special thing about literature, the major art form of a Western civilization now ending before our very eyes, is not hard to define.

La mort est le grand égalisateur

The fighting had begun. You could make out groups of masked men roaming around with assault rifles and automatic weapons. Windows had been broken, here and there cars were on fire, but the images, shot in the pelting rain, were of such poor quality it was impossible to get a clear idea of who was doing what.

Se pare c? alte fiinÅ£e umane aparent asem?n?toare cu mine nu simt nicio emoÅ£ie în faÅ£a unui trup de femeie, ceea ce mie îmi provoca ÅŸi înc? îmi provoac? uneori transe irepresibile. În cele mai multe împrejur?ri ale vieÅ£ii mele am fost aproape la fel de liber ca un aspirator.

dès qu'on parle de quitter la France tous les Français trouvent ça formidable c'est un point caractéristique chez eux, même si c'est pour aller au Groenland ils trouvent ça formidable

Lo terrible es hasta qué punto ya no se puede decir nada... Nietzsche, Schopenhauer y Spinoza no serían aceptados hoy. Lo políticamente correcto, con la magnitud que ha adquirido, hace inaceptable casi toda la filosofía occidental. Hay cada vez más cosas sobre las que es imposible pensar. Es aterrador.

intimacy isn't something men talk about. They may talk about politics, literature, stocks, or sports, depending on the man, but about their love lives they keep silent, even to their dying breath.

On beach holidays, as perhaps in life more generally, the only truly enjoyable time of the day is breakfast.

ludzie nie sprzymierzyli siÄ™ przeciw mnie, staÅ'o siÄ™ jedynie to, ?e nic siÄ™ nie staÅ'o, tylko moja od poczÄ…tku ograniczona przynale?no?? do Å›wiata stopniowo staÅ'a siÄ™ zerowa, a? w koÅ"cu nic ju? nie mogÅ'o powstrzyma? mojego dalszego staczania siÄ™ po równi pochyÅ'ej

There was no way I could think it over without a second Calvados. After thinking it over, I decided that the really prudent thing was to go out and buy another bottle.