Skip to content

A relationship is not like a bit of shade where one is comfortable or uncomfortable depending on the weather and the way the wind is blowing. On the contrary, it is a place of miracles, where the magician makes the rain and the good weather.

— Émile Chartier

Another quote →

Source and credibility

Wikiquote does not flag this quote as disputed or misattributed.

Source: in: Alain, Robert Cottrell Alain on happiness, Northwestern University Press, 1989, p. 100.
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 Émile Chartier

Thought is saying no, and it is to itself that thought says no.

Propos sur la religion [Remarks on religion (1924)

Every boat is copied from another boat...

Propos d’un Normand (1908)

Politeness is for people toward whom we feel indifferent, and moods, both good and bad, are for those we love.

Propos sur le bonheur [On Happiness (1928)

Every menial condition is bearable as long as one can exercise authority over one's work and be assured that the job is permanent.

Propos sur le bonheur [On Happiness (1928)

Work is the best and worst of all things; the best of it is voluntary, the worst of it is servile.

Propos sur le bonheur [On Happiness (1928)

Certainly thinking is pleasant, but the pleasure of thinking must be subordinated to the art of making decisions.

Propos sur le bonheur [On Happiness (1928)

When the pack is out hunting, the dogs do not fight among themselves.

Propos sur le bonheur [On Happiness (1928)

Idleness is the mother of all vices, but also of all virtues.

Propos sur le bonheur [On Happiness (1928)

All Émile Chartier quotes →

More quotes by Émile Chartier

Happiness is a reward that comes to those that have not looked for it.

Propos sur le bonheur [On Happiness (1928)

Nothing is more dangerous than an idea, when you have only one idea.

One must preach life, not death; spread hope, not fear and cultivate joy, man's most valuable treasure. That is the secret of the greatest of the wise, and it will be the light of tomorrow.

Propos sur le bonheur [On Happiness (1928)

If religion is only human, and its form is man’s form, it follows that everything in religion is true.

Les Dieux [The Gods (1934)

Never be insolent unless it is a deliberate decision, and only toward a man more powerful than yourself.

Propos sur le bonheur [On Happiness (1928)

All Émile Chartier quotes →

Attribution

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