A reactionary is someone who wants to return to a previous state – that’s never a possibility in my books. For me, everything’s irreversible in the life of a society, as well as an individual’s. Michel Houellebecq Read Quote
Active people don’t change the world profoundly; ideas do. Napoleon is less important in world history than Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Michel Houellebecq Read Quote
I think that if writers don’t speak about real life, it’s because they don’t know it. Michel Houellebecq Read Quote
I think poetry is the only domain where a writer you like can truly be said to influence you, because you read and reread a poem so many times that it simply drills itself into your head. Michel Houellebecq Read Quote
I think that there is a sharp contrast for most people between life at university, where they meet lots of people, and the moment when they enter the workforce, when they basically no longer meet anyone. Life becomes dull. So as a result people get married to have a personal life. I could elaborate but I think everyone understands. Michel Houellebecq Read Quote
In my own writing, I think of myself as a realist who exaggerates a little. Michel Houellebecq Read Quote
I find it an absolute pleasure to read travel guides, especially the Michelin guides, and their description of places I know I’ll probably never visit. I spend a large part of my life reading descriptions of restaurants. Michel Houellebecq Read Quote
You know, you don’t have to have permanent opinions. You can think, every morning, ‘I love the world’ and go to bed every night thinking, ‘I hate the world.’ Michel Houellebecq Read Quote
