Often we allow ourselves to be upset by small things we should despise and forget. We lose many irreplaceable hours brooding over grievances that, in a year’s time, will be forgotten by us and by everybody.
André Maurois (1885-1967) French author [b. Émile Salomon Wilhelm Herzog]
(Attributed)
Quotations by:
Maurois, Andre
The value of the average conversation could be enormously improved by the constant use of four simple words: “I do not know.”
André Maurois (1885-1967) French author [b. Émile Salomon Wilhelm Herzog]
(Attributed)
The difficult part of an argument is not to defend one’s opinion, but rather to know it.
André Maurois (1885-1967) French author [b. Émile Salomon Wilhelm Herzog]
Conversation, “Action in Conversation” (1930)
(Source)
The voice of a man when he reads reveals not what he is, but what he wants to be. It is the voice of the personage whom he visualizes when he thinks of himself.
André Maurois (1885-1967) French author [b. Émile Salomon Wilhelm Herzog]
Conversation, “Confidences” (1930)
(Source)
Sincerity must be used in moderation, even with our most intimate friends. To be too frank is to put into an opinion what may be simply ill temper; it is to risk losing a friend because of a poorly digested roast, a headache, a thunderstorm.
André Maurois (1885-1967) French author [b. Émile Salomon Wilhelm Herzog]
Conversation, “Sincerity” (1930)
(Source)
To love the worthy people who surround me, shun the evil ones, enjoy the good things in life, endure the bad, and remember to forget. This is my optimism. It has helped me to live. May it help you also.
André Maurois (1885-1967) French author [b. Émile Salomon Wilhelm Herzog]
Lettres a l’Inconnue (1953)
In literature, as in love, we are astonished at what is chosen by others.
[En littérature comme en amour, on est surpris par les choix des autres.]
André Maurois (1885-1967) French author [b. Émile Salomon Wilhelm Herzog]
The Art of Living [Un Art de Vivre], ch. 6 “The Art of Working” (1939) [tr. Whitall (1940)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Sometimes cited to the New York Times, but only because it was reprinted there in the article “Reading Matter: Some Bookish Quotes” (1963-04-14).
Growing old is no more than a bad habit which a busy man has no time to form.
André Maurois (1885-1967) French author [b. Émile Salomon Wilhelm Herzog]
The Art of Living, ch. 8 “The Art of Growing Old” (1940) [tr. Whitall]
(Source)