Andre Maurois

We owe to the Middle Ages the two worst inventions of humanity - romantic love and gunpowder.

Conversation would be vastly improved by the constant use of four simple words: I do not know.

A happy marriage is a long conversation which always seems too short.

Modesty and unselfishness - these are the virtues which men praise - and pass by.

Smile, for everyone lacks self-confidence, and more than any other one thing, a smile reassures them.

Memory is a great artist. For every man and for every woman it makes the recollection of his or her life a work of art and an unfaithful record.

A marriage without conflicts is almost as inconceivable as a nation without crises.

In literature as in love we are astonished at what is chosen by others.

An artist must be a reactionary. He has to stand out against the tenor of the age and not go flopping along.

Old age is far more than white hair wrinkles the feeling that it is too late and the game finished that the stage belongs to the rising generations. The true evil is not the weakening of the body but the indifference of the soul.

We appreciate frankness from those who like us. Frankness from others is called insolence.

Growing old is no more than a bad habit which a busy person has no time to form.

If men could regard the events of their own lives with more open minds they would frequently discover that they did not really desire the things they failed to obtain.

The most important quality in a leader is that of being acknowledged as such. All leaders whose fitness is questioned are clearly lacking in force.

No one can be profoundly original who does not avoid eccentricity.

Business is a combination of war and sport.

Men and women are not born inconstant: they are made so by their early amorous experiences.

People are what you make them. A scornful look turns into a complete fool a man of average intelligence. A contemptuous indifference turns into an enemy a woman who well treated might have been an angel.

The effectiveness of work increases according to geometric progression if there are no interruptions.

If you value a man's regard strive with him. As to liking you like your newspaper - and despise it.

The really great novel tends to be the exact negative of its author's life.

Lost Illusion is the undisclosed title of every novel.

If you create an act you create a habit. If you create a habit you create a character. If you create a character you create a destiny.

To be witty is not enough. One must possess sufficient wit to avoid having too much of it.

A successful marriage is an edifice that must be rebuilt every day.

The first recipe for happiness is: avoid too lengthy meditation on the past.

Without a family man alone in the world trembles with the cold.

The difficult part in an argument is not to defend one's opinion but rather to know it.

Self-pity comes so naturally to all of us. The most solid happiness can be shaken by the compassion of a fool.

There are certain persons for whom pure Truth is a poison.

Style is the hallmark of a temperament stamped upon the material at hand.