At that period I paid as constant attention to the greater securing of my happiness, to enjoying and judging it, too, as I had always done for the sm… - Marguerite Yourcenar

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At that period I paid as constant attention to the greater securing of my happiness, to enjoying and judging it, too, as I had always done for the smallest details of my acts; and what is the act of love, itself, if not a moment of passionate attention on the part of the body? Every bliss achieved is a masterpiece; the slightest error turns it awry, and it alters with one touch of doubt; any heaviness detracts from its charm, the least stupidity renders it dull. My own felicity is in no way responsible for those of my imprudences which shattered it later on; in so far as I have acted in harmony with it I have been wise. I think still that someone wiser than I might well have remained happy till his death.

English
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About Marguerite Yourcenar

Marguerite Cleenewerck de Crayencour (June 8 1903 – December 17 1987) was a Belgian-born French novelist who wrote under the pseudonym Marguerite Yourcenar. She was the first woman to be elected to the Académie française.

Biography information from Wikiquote

Also Known As

Alternative Names: Yourcenar Marguerite Cleenewerck de Crayencour Marguerite de Crayencour Marguerite Antoinette Jeanne Marie Ghislaine Cleenewerck de Crayencour
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Additional quotes by Marguerite Yourcenar

But this practice [vegetarianism], in which youthful love of austerity finds charm, calls for attentions more complicated than those of culinary refinement itself; and it separates us too much from the common run of men in a function which is nearly always public, and in which either friendship or formality presides.

il [Zénon] savait fort bien qu'il n'existe aucun accommodement durable entre ceux qui cherchent, pèsent, dissèquent, et s'honorent d'être capables de penser demain autrement qu'aujourd'hui, et ceux qui croient ou affirment croire, et obligent sous peine de mort leurs semblables à en faire autant.

L'ipocrisia degli uomini? Non esageriamola. La maggior parte pensa troppo poco per pensare doppio.

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