WIST

Our judgements judge us, and nothing reveals us, exposes our weaknesses, more ingeniously than the attitude of pronouncing upon our fellows.

Paul Valéry (1871-1945) French poet, critic
(Attributed)

A poem is never finished, only abandoned.

Paul Valéry (1871-1945) French poet, critic
(Attributed)

How many people are killed in accidents because of not wanting to let go of their umbrellas!

Paul Valéry (1871-1945) French poet, critic
(Attributed)

What others think of us would be of little moment did it not, when known, so deeply tinge what we think of ourselves.

Paul Valéry (1871-1945) French poet, critic
(Attributed)

The folly of mistaking a paradox for a discovery, a metaphor for a proof, a torrent of verbiage for a spring of capital truths, and oneself for an oracle, is inborn in us.

Paul Valéry (1871-1945) French poet, critic
Introduction to the Method of Leonardo da Vinci (1895)

Books have the same enemies as poeple: fire, humidity, animals, weather, and their own content.

[Les livres ont les mêmes ennemis comme les gens : le feu, l'humidité, les animaux, le temps, et leur propre contenu.] 

Paul Valéry (1871-1945) French poet, critic
Œuvres II, “Moralités” (1941)