Anatole France Quotes

Anatole France was a French poet, journalist, and novelist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1921 for his literary works. France's novels and essays explored social and political themes, and his writing reflected his skepticism toward established institutions. His contributions to literature have made him a significant figure in French literary history.

Nature has no principles. She makes no distinction... -Anatole France

Nature has no principles. She makes no distinction between good and evil.

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.... -Anatole France

Silence is the wit of fools.

It is well for the heart to be naive and the mind ... -Anatole France

It is well for the heart to be naive and the mind not to be.

What can be more foolish than to think that all this rare fabric of heaven and earth could come by chance, when all the skill of art is not able to make an oyster!

An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don't.

Of all the sexual aberrations, chastity is the str... -Anatole France

Of all the sexual aberrations, chastity is the strangest.

If a million people say a foolish thing, it is sti... -Anatole France

If a million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.

One thing above all gives charm to men's thoughts, and this is unrest. A mind that is not uneasy irritates and bores me.

Of all the ways of defining man, the worst is the ... -Anatole France

Of all the ways of defining man, the worst is the one which makes him out to be a rational animal.

All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another.

An education which does not cultivate the will is ... -Anatole France

An education which does not cultivate the will is an education that depraves the mind.

Existence would be intolerable if we were never to... -Anatole France

Existence would be intolerable if we were never to dream.

I prefer the folly of enthusiasm to the indifferen... -Anatole France

I prefer the folly of enthusiasm to the indifference of wisdom.

Never lend books, for no one ever returns them; the only books I have in my library are books that other folks have left me.

The greatest virtue of man is perhaps curiosity.... -Anatole France

The greatest virtue of man is perhaps curiosity.

We do not know what to do with this short life, ye... -Anatole France

We do not know what to do with this short life, yet we want another which will be eternal.

I thank fate for having made me born poor. Poverty taught me the true value of the gifts useful to life.

Nine tenths of education is encouragement.... -Anatole France

Nine tenths of education is encouragement.

War will disappear only when men shall take no part whatever in violence and shall be ready to suffer every persecution that their abstention will bring them. It is the only way to abolish war.

Only men who are not interested in women are interested in women's clothes. Men who like women never notice what they wear.

The books that everybody admires are those that no... -Anatole France

The books that everybody admires are those that nobody reads.

Religion has done love a great service by making i... -Anatole France

Religion has done love a great service by making it a sin.

To imagine is everything, to know is nothing at al... -Anatole France

To imagine is everything, to know is nothing at all.

Without lies humanity would perish of despair and ... -Anatole France

Without lies humanity would perish of despair and boredom.

It is better to understand little than to misunder... -Anatole France

It is better to understand little than to misunderstand a lot.

Popular Topic