“Much that for us is fraught with with happiness or misery, remains almost unnoticed by the rest of the world.”

“Without inquiring too deeply into the causes which make it possible to find subjects of gaiety always close at hand, the proof of that possibility can be found in the fact that persons of sensitive...”

“All the while that Jean was listening to him, he was vaguely conscious that what gives literature its reality is the result of work accomplished by the human spirit, no matter what the material fac...”

“When Jean and his mother left Etreuilles, Monsieur Sureau had gathered for them great boxfuls of hawthorn and of snowballs which Madame Santeuil had not the courage to refuse. But, as soon as Jean'...”

“Sadness had reigned in undisputed sovereignty over his shadowed childhood.”

“This book of mine has not been manufactured: it has been garnered.”

“It was not that Madame Santeuil's moral values had altered, but only her view of the moral values of others.”

“Understanding comes hard to persons of high rank who are accustomed to phony lifestyles that involve no daily work.”

“Creation and destruction are the two ends of the same moment. And everything between the creation and the next destruction is the journey of life.”

“But understanding will always require some effort. You probably wouldn't admire a friend who was good at everything if it cost her no effort.”