Anatole France

France
16 Apr 1844 // 12 Oct 1924
Writer / Poet

Quotes

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You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working; in just the same way, you learn to love by loving
The whole art of teaching is only the art of awakening the natural curiosity of young minds for the purpose of satisfying it afterwards
The good critic is he who relates the adventures of his soul among masterpieces
The books that everybody admires are those that nobody reads
The average man does not know what to do with this life, yet wants another one which will last forever
That man is prudent who neither hopes nor fears anything from the uncertain events of the future
Suffering! We owe to it all that is good in us, all that gives value to life; we owe to it pity, we owe to it courage, we owe to it all the virtues
Silence is the wit of fools
Only men who are not interested in women are interested in women's clothes. Men who like women never notice what they wear
Of all the ways of defining man, the worst is the one which makes him out to be a rational animal
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On Anger: "For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind."
Essays
On Destiny: "Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as yet, we have not learned its nature: it is our future that lays down the law of our today."
Human, All Too Human
On Friendship: "A crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love."
Essays