18 Quotes by J. M. G. Le Clézio

  • Author J. M. G. Le Clézio
  • Quote

    The writer, the poet, the novelist, are all creators. This does not mean that they invent language; it means that they use language to create beauty, ideas, images. This is why we cannot do without them.

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  • Author J. M. G. Le Clézio
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    I've always felt very much from a mixed culture - mainly English and French, but also Nigerian, Thai, Mexican. Everything's had its influence on me.

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  • Author J. M. G. Le Clézio
  • Quote

    Reading is a free practice. I think the readers are free to begin by the books where they want to. They don't have to be led in their reading.

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  • Author J. M. G. Le Clézio
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    A writer is not a prophet, is not a philosopher; he's just someone who is witness to what is around him. And so writing is a way to... it's the best way to testify, to be a witness.

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  • Author J. M. G. Le Clézio
  • Quote

    The novelist, he's not a philosopher, not a technician of spoken language. He's someone who writes, above all, and through the novel asks questions.

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  • Author J. M. G. Le Clézio
  • Quote

    I'm used to shifting languages because my father used to speak to us, to my brother and I, he used to speak in English. He wanted us to be quite fluent in English, especially when he was trying to correct our behavior; he would do that in English.

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  • Author J. M. G. Le Clézio
  • Quote

    If I examine the circumstances which inspired me to write - and this is not mere self-indulgence, but a desire for accuracy - I see clearly that the starting point of it all for me was war.

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  • Author J. M. G. Le Clézio
  • Quote

    I can understand better than most the contradiction between the idealistic civilisation and religious morals of Europe and what they did with the slaves, because the root of the evil is only two generations away from me. Maybe this has fed my need to fight against the abuses of modern civilisation.

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