Henri Barbusse Quotes

His history is a series of victories over a series of tremendous difficulties. Since 1917, not a single year of his career has passed without his having done something which would have made any other man famous. He is a man of iron. The name by which he is known describes it: the word Stalin means "steel" in Russian. He is as strong and yet as flexible as steel. His power lies in his formidable intelligence, the breadth of his knowledge, the amazing orderliness of his mind, his passion for precision, his inexorable spirit of progress, the rapidity, sureness and intensity of his decisions, and his constant care to choose the right men.

I should die some day. Had I ever thought of it? I reflected. No, I had never thought of it. I could not. You can no more look destiny in the face than you can look at the sun, and yet destiny is grey.

Es la imagen más pura de la mujer amada: la que aún no conocemos totalmente, la que se revelará, la que tiene en sí el único milagro viviente que existe en la tierra.

Nous serons reconnus par les grandes douleurs.

Et mi-rêvant, je ne sais guère
Si c’est moi qui t’écris, ou toi…

To cease to love is worse than to hate, for say what you will, death is worse than suffering. I am crying because one is alone.

Le temps semble s’être arrêté…
Tu baisses ton profil sublime,
Et nous nous penchons vers l’abîme
Dans un frisson d’éternité

Yo no sé lo que soy, ni adónde voy, ni lo que hago; pero, yo también he gritado desde el fondo de mi abismo, hacia un poco de luz.

J’ai rêvé de ce que j’oublie,
Je vis de ce qu’on m’a laissé.

Human contact wears things out with disheartening slowness.

It is an important experience to be in the presence of a thinking creature who is crying. A weak, broken creature who is crying creates the same impression as an omnipotent god whom one implores; for in its weakness and defeat it rises above the human condition.

I was young and strong then, full of hope and full of the beginning of things. I thought I was going to conquer the world, and even had the choice of the means to conquer it. Alas, all I did was to cross hastily over its surface.

Hélas, ô sacrifice, ô gloire,
Ô silence qui va saigner.

You can no more look destiny in the face than you can look at the sun, and yet destiny is grey

Toi dont la douceur est si douce
Qu’elle console l’Inconnu !