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Quote by Marguerite Yourcenar

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With Open Eyes: Conversations with Matthieu Galey

This book presents a series of conversations between Matthieu Galey and various interlocutors, exploring philosophical and cultural topics. more

Author

Marguerite Yourcenar
Marguerite Yourcenar

Marguerite Yourcenar was a renowned French novelist, known for her historical novels. Her works are celebrated for their profound insight and rich imagination, with her most famous novel being 'Orlando'. Born on June 8, 1903, she passed away on December 17, 1987. more

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“Every life is punctuated by deaths and departures, and each one causes great suffering that it is better to endure rather than forgo the pleasure of having known the person who has passed away. Somehow our world rebuilds itself after every death, and in any case we know that none of us will last forever. So you might say that life and death lead us by the hand, firmly but tenderly.”

KnowsWorldPersonsHandsMightLastsLife IsSufferingCausesPleasureKnownCasesForeverEndureLife And DeathOur WorldDeparturePassed Away
Book:With Open Eyes: Conversations with Matthieu Galey
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“Want of passion is, I think, a very striking characteristic of Americans, not unrelated to their predilection for violence. For very few people truly have a passionate desire to achieve, and violence serves as a kind of substitute.”

PeopleThinkingWantKindDesirePassionUnited StatesViolenceAchievePassionateCharacteristicsSubstitutesDesire To AchievePassionate Desire
Book:With Open Eyes: Conversations with Matthieu Galey
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“There are stages in bread-making quite similar to the stages of writing. You begin with something shapeless, which sticks to your fingers, a kind of paste. Gradually that paste becomes more and more firm. Then there comes a point when it turns rubbery. Finally, you sense that the yeast has begun to do its work: the dough is alive. Then all you have to do is let it rest. But in the case of a book the work may take ten years.”

WritingYearsKindMayBookTurnsCasesAliveStageTenSticksFingersBreadFirmDoughYeast
Author:Marguerite Yourcenar
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“Life is atrocious, we know. But precisely because I expect little of the human condition, man's periods of felicity, his partial progress, his efforts to begin over again and continue, all seem to me like so many prodigies which nearly compensate for the monstrous mass of ills and defeats, of indifference and error. Catastrophe and ruin will come; disorder will triumph, but order will too, from time to time.”

KnowsMenHumansLittlesSeemsLife IsOrderLossEffortProgressConditionsPeriodsMassErrorsDefeatDisasterRuinsTriumphIndifferenceDisorderHuman ConditionCatastropheMonstrousFelicityProdigies
Book:Memoirs of Hadrian
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