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On peut aimer que le sens du mot “art” soit tenter de donner conscience à des hommes de la grandeur qu’ils ignorent en eux.

— André Malraux Préface du Temps du mépris (1935)

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More quotes by André Malraux

The attempt to force human beings to despise themselves… is what I call hell.

La condition humaine [Man's Fate (1933)

History may clarify our understanding of the supreme work of art, but can never account for it completely; for the Time of art is not the same as the Time of history.

Les voix du silence [Voices of Silence (1951)

The human mind invents its Puss-in-Boots and its coaches that change into pumpkins at midnight because neither the believer nor the atheist is completely satisfied with appearances.

In ceasing to subordinate creative power to any supreme value, modern art has brought home to us the presence of that creative power throughout the whole history of art.

Les voix du silence [Voices of Silence (1951)

Freedom is not an exchange — it is freedom.

La condition humaine [Man's Fate (1933)

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The confusion of marriage with morality has done more to destroy the conscience of the human race than any other single error.

George Bernard Shaw Man and Superman (1903)

Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.

C. S. Lewis God in the Dock (1970)

Affectation hides three times as many virtues as charity does sins.

Horace Mann Thoughts Selected from the Writings of Horace Mann (1867)

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