Paul Valery Inspirational Quotes (83)

Collect all the facts that can be collected about the life of Racine and you will never learn from them the art of his verse. All criticism is dominated by the outworn theory that the man is the cause of the work as in the eyes of the law the criminal is the cause of the crime. Far rather are they both the effects.

Two dangers constantly threaten the world: order and disorder.

Man is only man at the surface. Remove the skin, dissect, and immediately you come to machinery.

Oh, hasten not this loving act, Rapture where self and not-self meet: My life has been the awaiting you, Your footfall was my own heart's beat.

The most ridiculous were those who, on their own authority, made themselves the judges and justices of the tribe. They seemed never to suspect that our judgments judge us, and that nothing exposes our weaknesses and reveals ourselves more naively than the attitude of pronouncing upon our neighbors.

God created man and, finding him not sufficiently alone, gave him a companion to make him feel his solitude more keenly.

If disorder is the rule with you, you will be penalized for installing order.

Science is feasible when the variables are few and can be enumerated when their combinations are distinct and clear. We are tending toward the condition of science and aspiring to do it. The artist works out his own formulas the interest of science lies in the art of making science.

The universe is built on a plan the profound symmetry of which is somehow present in the inner structure of our intellect.

Serious people have few ideas. People with ideas are never serious.

To see is to forget the name of the thing one sees.