“For a man’s life would become intolerable, if he knew what was going to happen to him. He would be made aware of future evils, and would suffer their agonies in advance, while he would get no joy of present blessings since he would know how they would end. Ignorance is the necessary condition of human happiness, and it has to be admitted that on the whole mankind observes that condition well. We are almost entirely ignorant of ourselves; absolutely of others. In ignorance, we find our bliss; in illusions, our happiness.”
― Anatole France, quote from The Gods Will Have Blood
“Yet, every now and then, there would pass a young girl, slender, fair and desirable, arousing in young men a not ignoble desire to possess her, and stirring in old men regrets for ecstasy not seized and now forever past.”
― Anatole France, quote from The Gods Will Have Blood
“After the usual politeness, the Citizen Brotteaux resumed the thread of his discourse:
'Those who make a trade out of foretelling the future rarely grow rich. Their attempts to deceive are too easily found out and arouse detestation. And yet it would be necessary to detest them much, much more if they foretold the future correctly. For a man's life would become intolerable, if he knew what was going to happen to him. He would be made aware of future evils, and would suffer their agonies in advance, while he would get no joy of present blessings since he would know how they would end. Ignorance is the necessary condition of human happiness, and it has to be admitted that on the whole mankind observes that condition well. We are almost entirely ignorant of ourselves; absolutely of others. In ignorance, we find our bliss; in illusions, our happiness.”
― Anatole France, quote from The Gods Will Have Blood
“But don't you ever tell me the Revolution will bring equality, because men'll never be equal. It's just not possible. They can turn the country upside down and inside out, there'll always be the big people and the little people, the fat ones and the thin ones.”
― Anatole France, quote from The Gods Will Have Blood
“I love reason, but my love does not make me a fanatic,' Brotteaux answered. 'Reason is our guide, a light to show us our way; but if you make a divinity of it, it will blind you and lead you into crime”
― Anatole France, quote from The Gods Will Have Blood
“We ought to love virtue; but it is well to realize that we ought to only because it is a convenient expedient invented by men in order that they may live comfortably together. What we call morality is simply and solely a desperate enterprise, a forlorn hope on the part of our fellow men to reverse the order of the Universe, which is constant strife and murder, blind, ceaseless and implacable. All is self-destruction, and the more I think of it, the more I am convinced that the the Universe is mad.”
― Anatole France, quote from The Gods Will Have Blood
“For our miserable species would never lavish worship on a just and benevolent God from whom they had nothing to fear; they would only feel an empty and thankless gratitude for their benefits. Without purgatory and hell, your God would indeed be a useless creature.”
― Anatole France, quote from The Gods Will Have Blood
“We should adopt his principles and govern men as they are and not as what we'd like them to be.”
― Anatole France, quote from The Gods Will Have Blood
“For you can always tell the gods by their appetite.”
― Anatole France, quote from The Gods Will Have Blood
Anatole France
Born place: in Paris, France
Born date April 16, 1844
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“Knock it off, you two.’ Annabeth handed her scroll to Sadie. ‘Carter, let’s trade. I’ll try your khopesh ; you try my Yankees cap.’
She tossed him the hat.
‘I’m usually more of a basketball guy, but …’ Carter put on the cap and disappeared. ‘Wow, okay. I’m invisible, aren’t I?’
Sadie applauded. ‘You’ve never looked better, brother dear.’
‘Very funny.’
‘If you can sneak up on Setne,’ Annabeth suggested, ‘you might be able to take him by surprise, get the crown away from him.’
‘But you told us Setne saw right through your invisibility,’ Carter said.
‘That was me ,’ Annabeth said, ‘a Greek using a Greek magic item. For you, maybe it’ll work better – or differently, at least.’
‘Carter, give it a shot,’ I said. ‘The only thing better than a giant chicken man is a giant invisible chicken man.”
― Rick Riordan, quote from The Crown of Ptolemy
“È molto pulito qui" osservò Martine sfilandosi gli anfibi nell'ingresso.
"Non ho tante cose" disse Harry dalla cucina.
"Quali sono le sue preferite?"
Harry rifletté. "I dischi."
"Non gli album di fotografie?"
"Non credo nelle fotografie."
Martine entrò in cucina e si sedette su una delle sedie.
Harry osservò che aveva ripiegato le gambe sotto di sé come un gatto.
"Non ci crede?" disse. "In che senso?"
"Fanno perdere la capacità di dimenticare. Latte?"
Martine scosse il capo. "Però crede nei dischi."
"Sì. Mentono in un modo più vero."
"Ma non fanno perdere la capacità di dimenticare."
Harry si fermò mentre versava il caffè. Martine si mise di nuovo a ridere.
"Io invece non credo alla storia del commissario arrabbiato e deluso. Credo che in fondo lei sia un romantico, Hole."
"Andiamo in soggiorno" propose Harry. "Qualche giorno fa ho comprato un disco abbastanza bello. Non è ancora collegato a nessun ricordo.”
― Jo Nesbø, quote from Frelseren
“The women are young, young, young, liquidy and sweet-looking; they are batter, and I am the sponge cake they don't know they'll become. I stand here, a lone loaf, stuck to the pan. ”
― Melissa Bank, quote from The Wonder Spot
“Those who have the disease called Jesus will never be cured.”
― Brennan Manning, quote from The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out
“FDR, even weakened and near the end of his life, opted to allow disabled veterans to see his true condition. This allowed them to understand the life which could still be before them.”
― Doris Kearns Goodwin, quote from No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II
In Between
The Demon's Lexicon
Makers
Sanctuary
Dearly Devoted Dexte...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.
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