169 Quotes by Andre Maurois

Men fear silence as they fear solitude, because both give them a glimpse of the terror of life’s nothingness.

When you become used to never being alone, you may consider yourself Americanised.

We owe to the Middle Ages the two worst inventions of humanity – romantic love and gunpowder.

The difficult part in an argument is not to defend one’s opinion but rather to know it.

The art of reading is in great part that of acquiring a better understanding of life from one’s encounter with it in a book.

Writing is a difficult trade which must be learned slowly by reading great authors; by trying at the outset to imitate them; by daring then to be original; by destroying one’s first productions.

Modesty and unselfishness – these are the virtues which men praise – and pass by.

If you value a man’s regard, strive with him. As to liking, you like your newspaper – and despise it.

Almost all great writers have as their motif, more or less disguised, the passage from childhood to maturity, the clash between the thrill of expectation and the disillusioning knowledge of truth. ‘Lost Illusion’ is the undisclosed title of every novel.