Quotes from Man's Fate

“...For that matter, men are perhaps indifferent to power.... What fascinates them in this idea, you see, is not real power, it's the illusion of being able to do exactly as they please. The king's power is the power to govern, isn't it? But man has no urge to govern--he has an urge to compel, as you said. To be more than a man, in a world of men. To escape man's fate, I was saying. Not powerful--all-powerful. The visionary disease, of which the will to power is only the intellectual justification, is the will to god-head--every man dreams of being god.”
― André Malraux, quote from Man's Fate

“ان لكل انسان نوع من الألم يلائم طبيعته”
― André Malraux, quote from Man's Fate

“كل ألم لا يساعد أحدا ألم لا معنى له”
― André Malraux, quote from Man's Fate

“- [...] Ah ! pourquoi l'intelligence des femmes veut-elle toujours choisir un autre objet que le sien ?
- Quel est le sien, cher ?
- Le charme et la compréhension, de toute évidence.
Elle réfléchit.
- Ce que les hommes appellent ainsi, c'est la soumission de l'esprit. Vous ne reconnaissez chez une femme que l'intelligence qui vous approuve.”
― André Malraux, quote from Man's Fate

“- Qu'entendez-vous par : l'intelligence ?
- En général ?
- Oui.
Ferral réfléchit.
- La possession des moyens de contraindre les choses ou les hommes.
Gisors sourit imperceptiblement. Chaque fois qu'il posait cette question, son interlocuteur, quel qu'il fût, répondait par le portrait de son désir, ou par l'image qu'il se faisait de lui-même.”
― André Malraux, quote from Man's Fate

“- [...] Ne trouvez-vous pas d'une stupidité caractéristique de l'espèce humaine qu'un homme qui n'a qu'une vie puisse la perdre pour une idée ?
- Il est très rare qu'un homme puisse supporter, comment dirais-je ? sa condition d'homme...”
― André Malraux, quote from Man's Fate

“D'ailleurs, les hommes sont peut-être indifférents au pouvoir... Ce qui les fascine dans cette idée, voyez-vous, ce n'est pas le pouvoir réel, c'est l'illusion du bon plaisir. Le pouvoir du roi, c'est de gouverner, n'est-ce pas ? Mais l'homme n'a pas envie de gouverner : il a envie de contraindre, vous l'avez dit. D'être plus qu'un homme dans un monde d'hommes. Échapper à la condition humaine, vous disais-je. Non pas puissant : tout-puissant. La maladie chimérique, dont la volonté de puissance n'est que la justification intellectuelle, c'est la volonté de déité : tout homme rêve d'être dieu.”
― André Malraux, quote from Man's Fate

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Popular quotes

“I thought it would be a good thing to follow John Redmond’s words. I thought for my mother’s sake, her gentle soul, for the sake of my own children, I might go out and fight for to save Europe so that we might have the Home Rule in Ireland in the upshot. I came out to fight for a country that doesn’t exist, and now, Willie, mark my words, it never will.”
― Sebastian Barry, quote from A Long Long Way

“When she rolled her eyes, he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing at her. “Why don’t you let me push the fridge back and I’ll take you out to lunch.”
“Why?”
“Because you clean when you’re upset and taking a toothbrush to the back of the fridge means you’re on the ragged edge. I’ll take you down to Concord for a Jasper burger. They can fix anything.”
She laughed, but it was on the bitter side. “Yeah, ’cause I need more Kowalskis in my day.”
“Hey, whatever it is, I didn’t do it.”
“I’m just not in a good mood today.”
He grinned and rocked back on his heels. “This is because of my magic penis, isn’t it? Four nights of it too much for you?”
“Ha. Don’t flatter yourself, Kowalski. I’m only having sex with you so I can sleep in my own bed again.”
The renewed color in her cheeks let him know she was full of crap. “So if I offered to do you right here on the kitchen floor, you’d say no?”
“I’d have to say no just to prove my point now.”
“Damn.”
― Shannon Stacey, quote from Yours to Keep

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“plans if you were going to go with this woman? come here.”
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BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.