André Gide quotes - page 4

We should enjoy this summer, flower by flower, as if it were to be the last one we'll see. (André Gide)
The capacity to get free is nothing; the capacity to be free is the task. View quote
André Gide
I owe much to my friends; but, all things considered, it strikes me that I owe even more to my enemies. The real person springs life under a sting even better than under a caress. View quote
André Gide
The most decisive actions of life are most often unconsidered actions. View quote
André Gide
A man thinks he owns things, and it is he who is owned. View quote
André Gide
Through loyalty to the past, our mind refuses to realize that tomorrow's joy is possible only if today's makes way for it; that each wave owes the beauty of its line only to the withdrawal of the preceding one. View quote
André Gide
It is easier to lead men to combat, stirring up their passion, than to restrain them and direct them toward the patient labors of peace. View quote
André Gide
The want of logic annoys. Too much logic bores. Life eludes logic, and everything that logic alone constructs remains artificial and forced. View quote
André Gide
I do not love men: I love what devours them. View quote
André Gide
What would there be in a story of happiness? Only what prepares it, only what destroys it can be told. View quote
André Gide
You have to let other people be right' was his answer to their insults. 'It consoles them for not being anything else. (André Gide)
Please do not understand me too quickly. View quote
André Gide
Great authors are admirable in this respect: in every generation they make for disagreement. Through them we become aware of our differences. View quote
André Gide
In hell there is no other punishment than to begin over and over again the tasks left unfinished in your lifetime. View quote
André Gide
To what a degree the same past can leave different marks - and especially admit of different interpretations. View quote
André Gide
There is no prejudice that the work of art does not finally overcome. View quote
André Gide
The most gifted natures are perhaps also the most trembling. View quote
André Gide
Profound optimism is always on the side of the tortured. View quote
André Gide
We prefer to go deformed and distorted all our lives rather than not resemble the portrait of ourselves which we ourselves have first drawn. It's absurd. We run the risk of warping what's best in us. View quote
André Gide
Not everyone can be an orphan. View quote
André Gide
I can't expect others to share my virtues. It's good enough for me if they share my vices. (André Gide)
When people felt they had a right to seek out Christ before the torment, and in the fullness of his joy-it was too late; the cross had overcome Christ himself; it was Christ crucified that people continued to see and teach. And thus it is that religion came to plunge the world into gloom. View quote
André Gide
O my dearest and most lovable thought, why should I try further to legitimize your birth? View quote
André Gide
It is good to follow one's own bent, so long as it leads upward. View quote
André Gide
"Therefore" is a word the poet must not know. View quote
André Gide