Skip to content

The myth of Prometheus means that all the sorrows of the world have their seat in the liver. But it needs a brave man to face so humble a truth.

— François Mauriac Le Nœud de vipères (1932)

Le mythe de Prométhée signifie que toute la tristesse du monde a son siège dans le foie. Mais qui oserait reconnaître une vérité si humble?

Original text (French)

Another quote →

Source and credibility

Wikiquote does not flag this quote as disputed or misattributed.

Source: Le Nœud de vipères (1932), cited from Oeuvres romanesques, vol. 2 (Paris: Flammarion, 1965) p. 166; Gerard Hopkins (trans.) Knot of Vipers (London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1951) p. 151.
Work: Le Nœud de vipères, 1932
Source quality: Precise citation Points to a specific work with a page, chapter, date or similar locator, so you can look it up.

More by François Mauriac

Very little would have been needed for the tears of Judas to be allied in the memory of mankind with those of Peter. He might have become a saint, the patron of all of us who constantly betray Christ.

All François Mauriac quotes →

More quotes by François Mauriac

Most men resemble great deserted palaces: the owner occupies only a few rooms and has closed off wings where he never ventures.

One can touch a living soul through a curtain of vice and crime no matter how dense and dark: but vulgarity is an insurmountable barrier.

Le Nœud de vipères (1932)

What makes a poet is, surely, the love of these things, a desperate search for the tiny ray of sunshine which used to flicker on the floor of a child’s bedroom.

Préséances (1921)

Où finit la correction? Où commence le martyre? Dans l'entre-deux, des milliers d'enfants peuplent un enfer qui ne fait pas de bruit.

I love Germany so much I'm glad there are two of them.

The Rough Guide to Germany (2004)

All François Mauriac quotes →

Attribution

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