How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
There is also a room on the side. But I have never been in it; it is reserved for couples. (16.19)
Antoine is fully aware of how alone he is, and he often feels a pinch of envy when he sees young couples dating. But at the end of the day, the only woman he has ever truly loved is Anny, and she is gone from his life forever.
Quote #8
But one day he had to find himself alone. Like M. Achille, like me: he is one of my race, he has good will. Now he has entered solitude—forever. (32.1)
Antoine frankly thinks that some people are born to be alone. The Self-Taught Man is one of these people. Yes, he could have suppressed his love for young boys, but Antoine knows that sooner or later, the man's perverse desires would get the best of him and he'd become a social outcast. Whether he likes it or not, it's his destiny to be alone.
Quote #9
This man had lived only for himself. By a harsh and well-deserved punishment, no one had come to his bedside to close his eyes. (21.7)
When looking at a painting called "The Bachelor's Death," Antoine realizes just how much society condemns people who live only for themselves. The bachelor, for example, is painted as a man who has died alone with no one to care for him. In other words, not getting married is viewed as antisocial behavior—something that people should be punished for.