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Whoever did not live in the years neighboring 1789 does not know what the pleasure of living means.

— Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord

Qui n'a pas vécu dans les années voisines de 1789 ne sait pas ce que c'est le plaisir de vivre.

Original text (French)

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Life

More quotes by Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord

It is not an event, it is a piece of news.

On hearing of Napoleon's death; reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations (1922)

I know where there is more wisdom than is found in Napoleon, Voltaire, or all the ministers present and to come – in public opinion.

In the Chamber of Peers (1821)

You do not play then at whist, sir! Alas, what a sad old age you are preparing for yourself!

Hoyt's New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations (1922)

It is the beginning of the end.

Ascribed to Talleyrand in The Hundred Days (1815)

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To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead.

Bertrand Russell Marriage and Morals (1929)

Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.

William James The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy (1897)

Reason is Life's sole arbiter, the magic Laby'rinth's single clue:
Worlds lie above, beyond its ken; what crosses it can ne'er be true.

Richard Francis Burton The Kasîdah of Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî (1870)

It is the law of life that if you are kind to someone you feel happy. If you are cruel you are unhappy. And if you hurt someone, you will be hurt back.

Cary Grant Love – That’s All Cary Grant Ever Thinks About (1964)

Attribution

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