Quotessence
Home / Authors / Guy de Maupassant
Guy de Maupassant

Guy de Maupassant Quotes

Writer

Filter quotes by topic

AllMen88 Short StoriesEyeLovePeopleBodyMaupassantWarAirBel Ami

Famous Guy de Maupassant Quotes

“Whatever one wishes to say, there is one noun only by which to express it, one verb only to give it life, one adjective only which will describe it. One must search until one has discovered them, this noun, this verb, this adjective, and never rest content with approximations, never resort to trickery, however happy, or to vulgarism, in order to dodge the difficulty.”

GivingOrderWishDifficultyCraftsResortsVerbsAdjectivesNounsDodgeTrickeryApproximation
Author:Guy de Maupassant
Create image

“I entered literary life as a meteor, and I shall leave it like a thunderbolt.”

MeteorsThunderbolts
Book:Guy de Maupassant – The Complete Works: Short Stories, Novels, Plays, Poetry, Memoirs and more: Original Versions of the Novels and Stories in French, An Interactive Bilingual Edition with Literary Essays on Maupassant by Tolstoy, Joseph Conrad and Henry James
Create image

“To love very much is to love inadequately; we love-that is all. Love cannot be modified without being nullified. Love is a short word but it contains everything. Love means the body, the soul, the life, the entire being. We feel love as we feel the warmth of our blood, we breathe love as we breathe the air, we hold it in ourselves as we hold our thoughts. Nothing more exists for us. Love is not a word; it is a wordless state indicated by four letters.”

LoveFeelsMeanSoulStatesBodyLove IsFourAirBloodLettersBreatheWarmthOur ThoughtsLove MeansShort Words
Author:Guy de Maupassant
Create image

“Anguish of suspense made men even desire the arrival of enemies.”

MenMadeDesirePoliticsEnemySuspenseAnguishArrivals
Book:Mademoiselle Fifi and Other Stories - Bilingual Edition (English / French): An Adventure in Paris, Boule de Suif, Rust, Marroca, The Log, The Relic, Words of Love, Christmas Eve, Two Friends, Am I Insane?...
Create image

“War! When I but think of this word, I feel bewildered, as though they were speaking to me of sorcery, of the Inquisition, of a distant, finished, abominable, monstrous, unnatural thing. When they speak to us of cannibals, we smile proudly, as we proclaim our superiority to these savages. Who are the real savages? Those who struggle in order to eat those whom they vanquish, or those who struggle merely to kill?”

ThinkingFeelsWarRealOrderSpeakPeaceStruggleFinishedSavagesSuperiorityUnnaturalMonstrousInquisitionBewilderedCannibalSorceryVanquish
Author:Guy de Maupassant
Create image

“Sometimes our thoughts turn back toward a corner in a forest, or the end of a bank, or an orchard powdered with flowers, seen but a single time on some happy day, yet remaining in our hearts and leaving in soul and body an unappeased desire which is not to be forgotten, a feeling that we have just rubbed elbows with happiness.”

HeartSoulEndsSometimesFeelingsBodyHappinessDesireTurnsFlowerLeavingForgottenCornersForestsOur ThoughtsElbowsOrchardHappy DaySoul And Body
Author:Guy de Maupassant
Create image