Quotes by French Authors | Beyond Motive 83/164

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Quotes by French Authors

"You have to adjust to where you are but the French are all together - the guys and the women. It's good."

"You have to adjust to where you are but the French are all together - the guys and the women. It's good."

Amelie Mauresmo, French Athlete

39

"All the great things of humanity have been accomplished in the name of absolute principles."

"All the great things of humanity have been accomplished in the name of absolute principles."

Ernest Renan, French Philosopher

Humanity, Name, Principles

39

"Fear of error which everything recalls to me at every moment of the flight of my ideas, this mania for control, makes men prefer reason's imagination to the imagination of the senses. And yet it is always the imagination alone which is at work."

"Fear of error which everything recalls to me at every moment of the flight of my ideas, this mania for control, makes men prefer reason's imagination to the imagination of the senses. And yet it is always the imagination alone which is at work."

Louis Aragon, French Poet

Imagination, Men, Work, Fear

39

"I've always been a proud man."

"I've always been a proud man."

Herve Villechaize, French Actor

39

"I made my choice to be in Ferrari. It is not easy because it is important for a man to have satisfaction. And for me to get the satisfaction I want means getting results."

"I made my choice to be in Ferrari. It is not easy because it is important for a man to have satisfaction. And for me to get the satisfaction I want means getting results."

Jean Alesi, French Celebrity

Choice, Man, Results, Satisfaction

39

"The exact contrary of what is generally believed is often the truth."

"The exact contrary of what is generally believed is often the truth."

Jean de la Bruyere, French Philosopher

39

"Don't tire yourself more than need be, even at the price of founding a culture on the fatigue of your bones."

"Don't tire yourself more than need be, even at the price of founding a culture on the fatigue of your bones."

Antonin Artaud, French Dramatist

Culture, Fatigue, Founding

39

"The Olympic Games are the quadrennial celebration of the springtime of humanity."

"The Olympic Games are the quadrennial celebration of the springtime of humanity."

Pierre de Coubertin, French Leader

Sports, Games, Humanity

39

"The artist is the confidant of nature, flowers carry on dialogues with him through the graceful bending of their stems and the harmoniously tinted nuances of their blossoms. Every flower has a cordial word which nature directs towards him."

"The artist is the confidant of nature, flowers carry on dialogues with him through the graceful bending of their stems and the harmoniously tinted nuances of their blossoms. Every flower has a cordial word which nature directs towards him."

Auguste Rodin, French Sculptor

Nature, Artist, Flowers, Word

39

"AIDS does not inevitably lead to death, especially if you suppress the co-factors that support the disease. It is very important to tell this to people who are infected."

"AIDS does not inevitably lead to death, especially if you suppress the co-factors that support the disease. It is very important to tell this to people who are infected."

Luc Montagnier, French Scientist

Death, People, Disease, Support

39

"Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world. Science is the highest personification of the nation because that nation will remain the first which carries the furthest the works of thought and intelligence."

"Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world. Science is the highest personification of the nation because that nation will remain the first which carries the furthest the works of thought and intelligence."

Louis Pasteur, French Scientist

Intelligence, Science, Thought, Knowledge

39

"Lust is to the other passions what the nervous fluid is to life; it supports them all, lends strength to them all ambition, cruelty, avarice, revenge, are all founded on lust."

"Lust is to the other passions what the nervous fluid is to life; it supports them all, lends strength to them all ambition, cruelty, avarice, revenge, are all founded on lust."

Marquis de Sade, French Novelist

Life, Strength, Ambition, Cruelty

39

"In a few generations more, there will probably be no room at all allowed for animals on the earth: no need of them, no toleration of them."

"In a few generations more, there will probably be no room at all allowed for animals on the earth: no need of them, no toleration of them."

Marie Louise, French Royalty

Animals, Generations, Will

39

"Marriage, in life, is like a duel in the midst of a battle."

"Marriage, in life, is like a duel in the midst of a battle."

Edmond About, French Novelist

Life, Marriage, Battle

39

"I didn't like mundane life."

"I didn't like mundane life."

Jeanne Calment, French Celebrity

39

"Providence conceals itself in the details of human affairs, but becomes unveiled in the generalities of history."

"Providence conceals itself in the details of human affairs, but becomes unveiled in the generalities of history."

Alphonse de Lamartine, French Poet

History, Providence

39

"Death does not exist."

"Death does not exist."

Edith Piaf, French Musician

39

"This cavern is below all, and the enemy of all; it is hatred, without exception."

"This cavern is below all, and the enemy of all; it is hatred, without exception."

Victor Hugo, French Author

Hatred, Enemy, Negativity, Life

39

"There are divers men who make a great show of loyalty, and pretend to such discretion in the hidden things they hear, that at the end folk come to put faith in them."

"There are divers men who make a great show of loyalty, and pretend to such discretion in the hidden things they hear, that at the end folk come to put faith in them."

Marie de France, French Poet

Faith, Men, Discretion, End

39

"Things they don't understand always cause a sensation among the English."

"Things they don't understand always cause a sensation among the English."

Alfred de Musset, French Writer

39

"I invent nothing, I rediscover."

"I invent nothing, I rediscover."

Auguste Rodin, French Sculptor

39

"Hope is a risk that must be run."

"Hope is a risk that must be run."

Georges Bernanos, French Author

39

"French women have been made beautiful by the French people - they're very aware of their bodies, the way they move and speak, they're very confident of their sexuality. French society's made them like that."

"French women have been made beautiful by the French people - they're very aware of their bodies, the way they move and speak, they're very confident of their sexuality. French society's made them like that."

Charlotte Rampling, French Actress

Woman, Women, People, Society, Sexuality

39

"Historians tell the story of the past, novelists the story of the present."

"Historians tell the story of the past, novelists the story of the present."

Edmond de Goncourt, French Writer

History, Historians, Past, Present

39

"Girls are weighed down by restrictions, boys with demands - two equally harmful disciplines."

"Girls are weighed down by restrictions, boys with demands - two equally harmful disciplines."

Simone de Beauvoir, French Writer

Society, Gender, Equality, Truth, Harm

39

"Pleasures are always children, pains always have wrinkles."

"Pleasures are always children, pains always have wrinkles."

Joseph Joubert, French Writer

Family, Children

39

"Stupidity and wisdom meet in the same centre of sentiment and resolution, in the suffering of human accidents."

"Stupidity and wisdom meet in the same centre of sentiment and resolution, in the suffering of human accidents."

Michel de Montaigne, French Philosopher

Paradox, Wisdom, Suffering, Sentiment, Resolution

39

"I have no enthusiasm for nature which the slightest chill will not instantly destroy."

"I have no enthusiasm for nature which the slightest chill will not instantly destroy."

George Sand, French Novelist

Nature, Enthusiasm, Will

39

"I never hoped that both my children would become actors. I expected them to do something else."

"I never hoped that both my children would become actors. I expected them to do something else."

Catherine Deneuve, French Actress

Actor, Actors, Children

39

"In philosophy, you have to reckon with the implicit level of an accumulated reserve, and thus with a very great number of relays, with the shared responsibility of these relays."

"In philosophy, you have to reckon with the implicit level of an accumulated reserve, and thus with a very great number of relays, with the shared responsibility of these relays."

Jacques Derrida, French Philosopher

Philosophy, Responsibility

39

"I think if you want to become a great football player, professional, you must give all the time one hundred percent, you must work hard - to be lucky is a good thing - but if you work hard and you give everything you will have great success."

"I think if you want to become a great football player, professional, you must give all the time one hundred percent, you must work hard - to be lucky is a good thing - but if you work hard and you give everything you will have great success."

Greg Akcelrod, French Actor

Success, Time, Work, Football

39

"Little things seem nothing, but they give peace, like those meadow flowers which individually seem odorless but all together perfume the air."

"Little things seem nothing, but they give peace, like those meadow flowers which individually seem odorless but all together perfume the air."

Georges Bernanos, French Author

Peace, Flowers, Nothing

39

"I'm not afraid of death. It's the stake one puts up in order to play the game of life."

"I'm not afraid of death. It's the stake one puts up in order to play the game of life."

Jean Giraudoux, French Dramatist

Life, Death, Order, Play

39

"To do the writing, I have to have time to do research."

"To do the writing, I have to have time to do research."

Jean-Jacques Annaud, French Director

Time, Research, Writing

39

"It is not enough to know your craft - you have to have feeling. Science is all very well, but for us imagination is worth far more."

"It is not enough to know your craft - you have to have feeling. Science is all very well, but for us imagination is worth far more."

Edouard Manet, French Artist

Imagination, Science, Feeling, Worth

39

"I am the most un-French Frenchman you will ever meet."

"I am the most un-French Frenchman you will ever meet."

Jean-Marie Messier, French Businessman

39

"Fashion is made to become unfashionable."

"Fashion is made to become unfashionable."

Coco Chanel, French Designer

39

"I like all these little animals that run and eat and hide all the time. I like their faces, They seem to be scared and curious at the same time."

"I like all these little animals that run and eat and hide all the time. I like their faces, They seem to be scared and curious at the same time."

Catherine Deneuve, French Actress

Time, Animals, Faces

39

"A person who doubts himself is like a man who would enlist in the ranks of his enemies and bear arms against himself. He makes his failure certain by himself being the first person to be convinced of it."

"A person who doubts himself is like a man who would enlist in the ranks of his enemies and bear arms against himself. He makes his failure certain by himself being the first person to be convinced of it."

Alexandre Dumas, French Dramatist

Failure, Being, Enemies, First

39

"Our understanding is correlative to our perception."

"Our understanding is correlative to our perception."

Robert Delaunay, French Artist

Perception, Understanding

39

"The history of thought may be summed up in these words: it is absurd by what it seeks and great by what it finds."

"The history of thought may be summed up in these words: it is absurd by what it seeks and great by what it finds."

Paul Valery, French Poet

History, Thought, May

39

"Although born in a prosperous realm, we did not believe that its boundaries should limit our knowledge, and that the lore of the East should alone enlighten us."

"Although born in a prosperous realm, we did not believe that its boundaries should limit our knowledge, and that the lore of the East should alone enlighten us."

Charles de Secondat, French Philosopher

39

"Music is the voice that tells us that the human race is greater than it knows."

"Music is the voice that tells us that the human race is greater than it knows."

Napoleon Bonaparte, French Leader

Music, Race, Voice

39

"Along with the lazy man... the dying man is the immoral man: the former, a subject that does not work; the latter, an object that no longer even makes itself available to be worked on by others."

"Along with the lazy man... the dying man is the immoral man: the former, a subject that does not work; the latter, an object that no longer even makes itself available to be worked on by others."

Michel De Certeau, French Writer

Work, Dying, Man

39

"Fundamentally, American society is composed of individuals who don't go out of their way to do each other favours."

"Fundamentally, American society is composed of individuals who don't go out of their way to do each other favours."

Jacques Delors, French Economist

Society, American

39

"Besides, we feel always a sort of mental superiority over those whose lives we know better than they suppose."

"Besides, we feel always a sort of mental superiority over those whose lives we know better than they suppose."

Alexandre Dumas, French Dramatist

Psychology, Mental, Superiority, Insight, Judgment

39

"The things we truly love stay with us always, locked in our hearts as long as life remains."

"The things we truly love stay with us always, locked in our hearts as long as life remains."

Josephine Baker, French Dancer

39

"My death, taking the light from my eyes, gives back to the day the purity which they soiled."

"My death, taking the light from my eyes, gives back to the day the purity which they soiled."

Jean Racine, French Dramatist

Death, Day, Eyes, Light

39

"If a thing isn't worth saying, you sing it."

"If a thing isn't worth saying, you sing it."

Pierre Beaumarchais, French Inventor

39

"I tell you, sir, the only safeguard of order and discipline in the modern world is a standardized worker with interchangeable parts. That would solve the entire problem of management."

"I tell you, sir, the only safeguard of order and discipline in the modern world is a standardized worker with interchangeable parts. That would solve the entire problem of management."

Jean Giraudoux, French Dramatist

Discipline, Management, Order, World

39

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