Michel Houellebecq

There is no point in asking me general questions because I am always changing my mind.

— Michel Houellebecq

“The academic study of literature leads basically nowhere, as we all know, unless you happen to be an especially gifted student, in…

— Michel Houellebecq

The world outside had its own rules, and those rules were not human.

— Michel Houellebecq

“Quand on aime la vie, on ne lit pas.”

— Michel Houellebecq

“Back in Paris they had happy moments together, like stills from a perfume ad (dashing hand in hand down the steps of…

— Michel Houellebecq

I think poetry is the only domain where a writer you like can truly be said to influence you, because you read…

— Michel Houellebecq

Those who love life do not read. Nor do they go to the movies, actually. No matter what might be said, access…

— Michel Houellebecq

“Later Michel went up to the priest as he was packing away the tools of the trade. “I was very interested in…

— Michel Houellebecq

People are suspicious of single men on vacation, after they get to a certain age: they assume that they're selfish, and probably…

— Michel Houellebecq

“All in all, I was harking back to the Ancient Greeks. When you get old, you always hark back to the Ancient…

— Michel Houellebecq

In my own writing, I think of myself as a realist who exaggerates a little.

— Michel Houellebecq

it’s true this world our breathing laboured inspires nothing more than obvious disgust a desire to flee without our share and no…

— Michel Houellebecq

“People often say that the English are very cold fish, very reserved, that they have a way of looking at things –…

— Michel Houellebecq

Islam is a dangerous religion.

— Michel Houellebecq

I think she is going to find you too old... Yes that was it, the moment she said it I knew it…

— Michel Houellebecq

“Few beings have ever been so impregnated, pierced to the core, by the conviction of the absolute futility of human aspiration. The…

— Michel Houellebecq

The press may hate me, and I know my battles with them are not over, but that doesn't matter.

— Michel Houellebecq

“Youth was the time for happiness, its only season; young people, leading a lazy, carefree life, partially occupied by scarcely absorbing studies,…

— Michel Houellebecq

As a teenager, Michel believed that suffering conferred dignity on a person. Now he had to admit that he had been wrong.…

— Michel Houellebecq

“Living together alone is hell between consenting adults.”

— Michel Houellebecq

“The arrival in Paris, as grim as ever. The leprous façades of the Pont Cardinet flats, behind which one invariably imagines retired…

— Michel Houellebecq

Adolescence is not only an important period in life, but that it is the only period where one may speak of life…

— Michel Houellebecq

“Let's put a chimpanzee in a tiny cage fronted by concrete bars. The animal would go berserk, throw itself against the walls,…

— Michel Houellebecq

The most stupid religion is Islam.

— Michel Houellebecq

Life is painful and disappointing. It is useless, therefore, to write new realistic novels. We generally know where we stand in relation…

— Michel Houellebecq