"The world outside had its own rules, and those rules were not human."
— Michel Houellebecq
"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
"Tenderness is a deeper instinct than seduction, which is why it is so hard to give up hope."
— 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."
— 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."
— Michel Houellebecq
"It's a curious idea to reproduce when you don't even like life."
— Michel Houellebecq
"Anything can happen in life, especially nothing."
— Michel Houellebecq
"Irony won't save you from anything; humour doesn't do anything at all. You can look at life ironically for years, maybe decades; there are people who seem to go through most of their lives seeing the funny side, but in the end, life always breaks your heart. Doesn't matter how brave you are, or how reserved, or how much you've developed a sense of humour, you still end up with your heart broken. That's when you stop laughing."
— Michel Houellebecq
"If life is an illusion it's a pretty painful one."
— Michel Houellebecq
"The Americans are completely stupid. The intellectual level in any single European country is higher than in America."
— 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."
— Michel Houellebecq
"Of course, we can distinguish between males and females; we can also, if we choose, distinguish between different age categories; but any more advanced distinction comes close to pedantry, probably a result of boredom. A creature that is bored elaborates distinctions and hierarchies. According to Hutchinson and Rawlins, the development of systems of hierarchical dominance within animal societies does not correspond to any practical necessity, nor to any selective advantage; it simply constitutes a means of combating the crushing boredom of life in the heart of nature."
— Michel Houellebecq
"Why am I popular? I don't know. Is it a mistake? I should think it's a mistake somewhere."
— Michel Houellebecq
"Active people don't change the world profoundly; ideas do. Napoleon is less important in world history than Jean-Jacques Rousseau."
— Michel Houellebecq
"There is no point in asking me general questions because I am always changing my mind."
— 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 a bit pervy. I can't say they're wrong."
— 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
“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.”
— 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.”
— Michel Houellebecq
“...beds last on an average much longer than marriages...”
— Michel Houellebecq