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Born enemies don't fight. Nations you would say were designed to go to war against each other — by their skins, their language, their smell: always jealous of each other, always hating each other — they're not the ones who fight. You will find the real antagonists in nations fate has groomed and made ready for the same war.

— Jean Giraudoux Tiger at the Gates (1935)

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More quotes by Jean Giraudoux

The flower is the poetry of reproduction. It is an example of the eternal seductiveness of life.

The Enchanted (1933)

Young girls are the chatelaines of truth; they must see that it is protected, that the guilty lead the life of the guilty, even if the world rocks on its foundations.

Electra (1937)

As soon as war is declared it will be impossible to hold the poets back. Rhyme is still the most effective drum.

Tiger at the Gates (1935)

You're an attorney! It's your duty to lie, conceal, and distort everything, and slander everybody.

A golf course is the epitome of all that is purely transitory in the universe; a space not to dwell in, but to get over as quickly as possible.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Jean Giraudoux (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.