Zitate von André Maurois
André Maurois
Geburtstag: 26. Juli 1885
Todesdatum: 9. Oktober 1967
André Maurois, eigentlich Émile Salomon Wilhelm Herzog , war ein französischer Schriftsteller, Literaturwissenschaftler und Historiker.
Zitate André Maurois
„The reading of a fine book is an uninterrupted dialogue in which the book speaks and our soul replies.“
Un Art de Vivre (The Art of Living) (1939), The Art of Friendship
„A man's power and intelligence are limited. He who wants to do everything will never do anything.“
Un Art de Vivre (The Art of Living) (1939), The Art of Working
Kontext: A man's power and intelligence are limited. He who wants to do everything will never do anything. Only too well do we know those people of uncertain ability who say: "I could be a great musician."..."Business would be easy for me."..."I could surely make success in politics." We may be certain that they will always be amateur musicians, failures in business, and beaten politicians. Napoleon held that the art of war consisted of making oneself strongest at a certain point; in life we must choose a point of attack and concentrate our forces there. The choice of a career must not be left to chance.
„Either the soul is immortal and we shall not die, or it perishes with the flesh and we shall not know that we are dead. Live, then, as if you were eternal“
Quoted by Will Durant in On the Meaning of Life http://books.google.com/books?id=XH5HAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Either+the+soul+is+immortal+and+we+shall+not+die+or+it+perishes+with+the+flesh+and+we+shall+not+know+that+we+are+dead+Live+then+as+if+you+were+eternal%22&pg=PA53#v=onepage (1932)
Kontext: What shall we know of our death? Either the soul is immortal and we shall not die, or it perishes with the flesh and we shall not know that we are dead. Live, then, as if you were eternal, and do not believe that your life has changed merely because it seems proved that the Earth is empty. You do not live in the Earth, you live in yourself.
„We are always repeating ancestral signs which are quite useless now. When a great actress wants to express hate she draws back her charming lips and shows her canine teeth, an unconscious sign of cannibalism. We shake hands with a friend to prevent him using it to strike us, and we take off our hats because our ancestors used to humbly offer their heads, to the bigwigs of those days, to be cut off.“
Les silences du colonel Bramble (The Silence of Colonel Bramble)
„We do not completely love those at whom we cannot smile. There is something inhuman in absolute perfection which overwhelms the mind and heart, which commands respect, but keeps friendship at a distance through discouragement and humiliation. We are always glad when a great man reassures us of his humanity by possessing a few peculiarities.“
Un Art de Vivre (The Art of Living) (1939), The Art of Friendship
„Byron says that it is easier to die for the woman one loves than to live with her.“
Un Art de Vivre (The Art of Living) (1939), The Art of Loving
„Revolt against a tyrant is legitimate; it can succeed. Revolt against human nature is doomed to failure.“
Un Art de Vivre (The Art of Living) (1939), The Art of Loving
„There are very few really brilliant men who have not had at least one madman among their ancestors.“
Les silences du colonel Bramble (The Silence of Colonel Bramble)
„Love born of anxiety resembles a thorn shaped so that efforts to pull it out of one's flesh merely cause it to penetrate more deeply therein.“
Un Art de Vivre (The Art of Living) (1939), The Art of Loving
„It is often maintained that friendship between men and women can never approach the high level of friendship between men. How, it is objected, could sensuality not be present in such relationships? if it were not present, would not the least coquettish of women feel herself humiliated? It is contrary to every natural impulse for a man to associate with a woman as freely as is usual in friendship without occasionally being conscious of physical desire, and if he is conscious of it, the whole machinery of the passions is set in motion.“
Un Art de Vivre (The Art of Living) (1939), The Art of Friendship
„Does absolute reliance carry with it a complete exchange of confidences? I believe that true friendship cannot exist otherwise.“
Un Art de Vivre (The Art of Living) (1939), The Art of Friendship
„Almost all of our fellow-beings deceive us, but a few of us have known the joy of meeting a woman or a man whose sincerity and frankness were genuine, who in almost every situation has behaved according to our wishes, and who in our most difficult moments has not forsaken us. Those few are familiar with that marvelous feeling: confidence. With at least one person they are able for a little while each day to lift the heavy visor of their helmets, breathe freely, and show their faces and their hearts without fear.“
Un Art de Vivre (The Art of Living) (1939), The Art of Loving