André Maurois quotes - page 2

To desire to be perpetually in the society of a pretty woman until the end of one's days, is as if, because one likes good wine, one wished always to have one's mouth full of it. (André Maurois)
Among the idle rich, boredom is one of the most common causes of unhappiness. People who have difficulty in earning their living may suffer greatly, but they are not bored. Wealthy men and women become bored when they depend upon the theater for their enjoyment instead of making their own lives interesting. View quote
André Maurois
To reason with poorly chosen words is like using a pair of scales with inaccurate weights. View quote
André Maurois
The reading of a fine book is an uninterrupted dialogue in which the book speaks and our soul replies. View quote
André Maurois
Novelty, the most potent of all attractions, is also the most perishable. View quote
André Maurois
He who has found a good wife has found great happiness, but a quarrelsome woman is like a roof that lets in the rain. View quote
André Maurois
Love born of anxiety resembles a thorn shaped so that efforts to pull it out of one's flesh merely cause it to penetrate more deeply therein. View quote
André Maurois
Style is the outcome of constraint. View quote
André Maurois
Genius consists of equal parts of natural aptitude and hard work. View quote
André Maurois
Only passions can raise a man above the level of the animal. View quote
André Maurois
An unsatisfied woman requires luxury, but a woman who is in love with a man will lie on a board. (André Maurois)
A man cannot free himself from the past more easily than he can from his own body. View quote
André Maurois
The clear and simple words of common usage are always better than those of erudition. The jargon of the philosophers not seldom conceals an absence of thought. View quote
André Maurois
To feminine eyes a man's prestige, or his fame, envelops him in a luminous haze which obscures his faults. The triumphs of an aviator, an actor, a football player, an orator are often responsible for the beginning of a love affair. View quote
André Maurois
Medicine is a very old joke, but it still goes on. View quote
André Maurois
A great statesman, like a good housekeeper, knows that cleaning has to be done every morning. View quote
André Maurois
Marriage makes a man more vulnerable by doubling the expanse of sail exposed to the tempests of social life. View quote
André Maurois
Old age diminishes our strength; it takes away our pleasures one after the other; it withers the soul as well as the body; it renders adventure and friendship difficult; and finally it is shadowed by thoughts of death. View quote
André Maurois
What men call friendship is only social intercourse, an exchange of favours and good offices; it comes down to a commercial dealing in which self-esteem always expects to profit. View quote
André Maurois
A great writer has a high respect for values. His essential function is to raise life to the dignity of thought, and this he does by giving it a shape. View quote
André Maurois
Marriage is not something that can be accomplished all at once; it has to be constantly reaccomplished. A couple must never indulge in idle tranquility with the remark: "The game is won; let's relax." The game is never won. The chances of life are such that anything is possible. Remember what the dangers are for both sexes in middle age. A successful marriage is an edifice that must be rebuilt every day. (André Maurois)
The art of growing old is the art of being regarded by the oncoming generations as a support and not as a stumbling-block, as a confidant and not as a rival. View quote
André Maurois
A friend loves you for your intelligence, a mistress for your charm, but your family's love is unreasoning; you were born into it and are of its flesh and blood. Nevertheless it can irritate you more than any group of people in the world. View quote
André Maurois
Either the soul is immortal and we shall not die, or it perishes with the flesh and we shall not know that we are dead. Live, then, as if you were eternal. View quote
André Maurois
The reputation of a Don Juan gives to a man the most dangerous power. Wise virgins resist it, but foolish virgins frequently yield to the desire to take a celebrated lover from a rival - even from a friend. This emotion is a complex one, mad up of vanity, respect for another woman's taste, and the need to establish self-assurance by winning a difficult victory. Don Juan chose his first mistresses; later he was chosen. Byron said that he had been raped oftener than anyone since the Trojan War. View quote
André Maurois