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Quotes by French Authors
"Prejudices are not easily got rid of as an old coat which is no longer thought of."
"The tragedy is not that we are alone, but that we cannot be. At times I would give anything in the world to no longer be connected by anything to this universe of men."
"To stay or to go, it amounted to the same thing."
"From the moment that man submits God to moral judgment, he kills Him his own heart."
"Tolerance it a tremendous virtue, but the immediate neighbors of tolerance are apathy and weakness."
"There will be no lasting peace either in the heart of individuals or in social customs until death is outlawed."
"The straight line, a respectable optical illusion which ruins many a man."
"At thirty a man should know himself like the palm of his hand know the exact number of his defects and qualities. ... And above all accept these things."
"Every man has three characters - that which he exhibits, that which he has, and that which he thinks he has."
"There is not love of life without despair about life."
"We've no use for intellectuals in this outfit. What we need is chimpanzees. Let me give you a word of advice: never say a word to us about being intelligent. We will think for you, my friend. Don't forget it."
"Do not fear lest you should meditate too much upon Him and speak of Him in an unworthy way, providing you are led by faith. Do not fear lest you should entertain false opinions of Him so long as they are in conformity with the notion of the infinitely perfect Being."
"As we are always preparing to be happy it is inevitable that we should never be so."
"Death unites as well as separates; it silences all paltry feeling."
"This water was indeed a different thing from ordinary nourishment. Its sweetness was born of the walk under the stars, the song of the pulley, the effort of my arms. It was good for the heart, like a present."
"This instant which I cannot leave, which locks me in and limits me on every side, this instant I am made of will be no more than a confused dream."
"When soldiers have been baptized in the fire of a battle-field, they have all one rank in my eyes."
"The finite is annihilated in the presence of the infinite, and becomes a pure nothing. So our spirit before God, so our justice before divine justice."
"They will come to learn in the end, at their own expense, that it is better to endure competition for rich customers than to be invested with monopoly over impoverished customers."
"The misfortune is that although everyone must come to [death], each experiences the adventure in solitude. We never left Maman during those last days... and yet we were profoundly separated from her."
"The most ordinary word, when put into place, suddenly acquires brilliance. That is the brilliance with which your images must shine."
"It is our duty as men and women to proceed as though the limits of our abilities do not exist."
"Co-operation between governments still plays an important role and will remain indispensable."
"I would like to see capital punishment suppressed in all democracies."
"The possessions of the rich are stolen property."
"In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion."
"Charm is a way of getting the answer yes without asking a clear question."
"Un sceptique qui adhA re A un croyant cela est simple comme la loi des couleurs complA©mentaires.Ce qui nous manque nous attire."
"Let women be provided with living strength of their own."
"Like all dreamers I confuse disenchantment with truth."
"People are generally better persuaded by the reasons which they have themselves discovered than by those which have come in to the mind of others."
"The knowledge of God is very far from the love of Him."
"Hate is able to provoke disorders, to ruin a social organization, to cast a country into a period of bloody revolutions; but it produces nothing."
"Great griefs exhaust. They discourage us with life. The man into whom they enter feels something taken from him. In youth, their visit is sad; later on, it is ominous."
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