Alain Quotes

En réalité, les motifs qu'on a d'être heureux ou malheureux sont sans poids; tout dépend de notre corps.

One must preach life, not death; spread hope, not fear and cultivate joy, man's most valuable treasure. That is the secret of the greatest of the wise, and it wil be the light of tomorrow. Passions are sad. Hatred is sad. Joy destroys passions and hatred. Let us begin by telling ourselves that sadness is never noble, beautiful or useful.

In short, the anomaly of war is that the best men get themselves killed while crafty men find their chance to govern in a manner contrary to justice.

Everybody continually tries to get away with as much as he can; and society is a marvelous machine which allows decent people to be cruel without realizing it.

Each one gave the other the only assistance one man can expect from another: that his friend support him and ask only that he remain himself. It is no great accomplishment to take people as they are, and we must always do so eventually, but to wish them to be as they are, that is a genuine love.

En cualquier contrato y en cualquier intercambio, ponte en el lugar del otro, pero con todo lo que sabes, y suponiéndote tan libre de necesidades como un hombre puede serlo, mira si en lugar, aprobarías ese intercambio o contrato

Every boat is copied from another boat... Let’s reason as follows in the manner of Darwin. It is clear that a very badly made boat will end up at the bottom after one or two voyages, and thus never be copied... One could then say, with complete rigor, that it is the sea herself who fashions the boats, choosing those which function and destroying the others.

If religion is only human, and its form is man’s form, it follows that everything in religion is true.

Nothing is more dangerous than an idea when it is the only one you have.

Our errors perish before we do. Let's not mummify them and keep them around.

It is very true that we ought to think of the happiness of others; but it is not often enough said that the best thing we can do for those who love us is to be happy ourselves.

Never be insolent unless it is a deliberate decision, and only toward a man more powerful than yourself.

Les mauvais médecins seraient donc ceux qu'on aime assez pour vouloir les intéresser à ses propres maux; et les bons médecins sont ceux au contraire qui vous demandent selon l'usage: “Comment allez-vous?” et qui n'écoutent pas la réponse.

We must stand firm between two kinds of madness: the belief that we can do anything; and the belief that we can do nothing.

Every menial condition is bearable as long as one can exercise authority over one's work and be assured that the job is permanent.