86 quotes
People who have no weaknesses are terrible; there is no way of taking advantage of them.
The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard (1881)
It is human nature to think wisely and to act in an absurd fashion.
It is well for the heart to be naive and for the mind not to be.
I prefer the folly of enthusiasm to the wisdom of indifference.
The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard (1881)
And Satan awoke bathed in an icy sweat.
The Revolt of the Angels (1914)
Of all the ways of defining man, the worst is the one which makes him out to be a rational animal.
That man is prudent who neither hopes nor fears anything from the uncertain events of the future.
It is only the poor who pay cash, and that not from virtue, but because they are refused credit.
I do not know any reading more easy, more fascinating, more delightful than a catalogue.
The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard (1881)
We reproach people for talking about themselves but it is the subject they treat best.
The finest words in the world are only vain sounds, if you cannot comprehend them.
Drink! The flies have not spoilt my vintage; the vines were dry before they came.
Penguin Island (1908)
The good critic is one who tells of his mind's adventures among masterpieces.
For the moment the peril was nowhere and yet everywhere. The majority remained solid; but the leaders became stiff and exacting.
Penguin Island (1908)
All the historical books which contain no lies are extremely tedious.
The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard (1881)
Ignorance and error are necessary to life, like bread and water.
Christianity has done a great deal for love by making it a sin.
Satan, piercing space with his keen glance, contemplated the little globe of earth and water where of old he had planted the vine and formed the first tragic chorus.
The Revolt of the Angels (1914)
He fell to condemning intelligence and to hating curiosity. He himself refused to learn anything more, for fear that in acquiring fresh knowledge he might let it be seen that he had not known everything at the very outset.
The Revolt of the Angels (1914)
When the baptism of the penguins was known in Paradise, it caused neither joy nor sorrow, but an extreme surprise. The Lord himself was embarrassed. He gathered an assembly of clerics and doctors, and asked them whether they regarded the baptism as valid.
Penguin Island (1908)