Quotes from Guy de Maupassant

Whence come those mysterious influences which change our happiness into discouragement, and our self-confidence into diffidence?

as eager to attack as they were ready to take to flight;

It reveals none of those great catastrophes which we always expect to find behind these acts of despair; but it shows us the slow succession of the little vexations of life, the disintegration of a lonely existence, whose dreams have disappeared; it gives the reason for these tragic ends, which only nervous and highstrung people can understand.

And each day a friendly intercourse was established between the working-women of the pavement and the idlers of the boarding school.

Well, and what then? It makes no difference to me. Whether it's for the Republic or something else, I don't care! What I want, monsieur, is to know my government. I saw Charles X. and adhered to him, monsieur; I saw Louis-Philippe and adhered to him, monsieur; I saw Napoleon and adhered to him; but I have never seen the Republic.

And he wrote a long letter, tenderly affectionate, full of phrases and circumlocutions, metaphors and similes, philosophy and academic gallantry; and I took on myself the responsibility of delivering it to the young woman.

Quantas vezes passamos ao lado de uma felicidade possível, sem darmos por ela, visto que não há quem possa penetrar no mistério dos pensamentos, nos abandonos secretos da vontade, nos apelos mudos da carne, em todo o desconhecido de uma alma de mulher cuja boca permanece silenciosa e o olhar impenetrável e claro?

Tal vez una ráfaga fría al rozarme la piel me ha alterado los nervios y ensombrecido el alma?

J'aime ce pays, et j'aime y vivre parce que j'y ai mes racines, ces profondes et délicates racines, qui attachent un homme à la terre où sont nés et morts ses aïeux, qui l'attachent à ce qu'on pense et à ce qu'on mange, aux usages comme aux nourritures, aux locutions locales, aux intonations des paysans, aux odeurs du sol, des villages et de l'air lui-même.

D'où viennent ces influences mystérieuses qui changent en découragement notre bonheur et notre confiance en détresse

In that case I was a somnambulist — was living, without knowing it, that double, mysterious life which makes us doubt whether there are not two beings in us — whether a strange, unknowable, and invisible being does not, during our moments of mental and physical torpor, animate the inert body, forcing it to a more willing obedience than it yields to ourselves.

Car la haine de l'Étranger arme toujours quelques Intrépides prêts à mourir pour une Idée.

Est-ce étrange qu'un simple malaise, un trouble de la circulation peut-être, l'irritation d'un filet nerveux, un peu de congestion, une toute petite perturbation dans le fonctionnement si imparfait et si délicat de notre machine vivante, puisse faire un mélancolique du plus joyeux des hommes, et un poltron du plus brave ?

Certes, la solitude est dangereuse pour les intelligences qui travaillent. Il nous faut autour de nous, des hommes qui pensent et qui parlent. Quand nous sommes seuls longtemps, nous peuplons le vide de fantômes.

You see, my boy, everything depends upon assurance here. A clever fellow can more easily become a minister than an under-secretary. One must obtrude one's self on people; not ask things of them.

What you love too violently finishes by killing you.

Quello che si ama con violenza finisce sempre per uccidere. Ma come spiegare ciò che mi succede? Come raccontare in modo da farmi capire? Non lo so, non lo so più, so soltanto che è così – ecco tutto.

Cât de plin? de pl?ceri ar fi viaÈ›a, dac? am putea fi siguri de alÈ›ii c? vom p?stra t?cerea. Ceea ce È›ine în frâu pe femei adesea, foarte adesea, aproape întotdeauna, e frica de a nu se descoperi secretul.

Astea nu m? privesc pe mine; ?i nu vreau s? te descarci pe mine de necazurile dumitale.

Es evidente que la soledad resulta peligrosa para las mentes que piensan demasiado. Necesitamos ver a nuestro alrededor a hombres que piensen y hablen. Cuando permanecemos solos durante mucho tiempo, poblamos de fantasmas el vacío.

Pl?cerea va trebui jerfit? folosului.

Ces gens ne se sont battus que pour vider les silos ou piller des convois. Ils semblent n'avoir agi ni par haine, ni par fanatisme religieux, mais par faim. Notre système de colonisation consistant à ruiner l'Arabe, à le dépouiller sans repos, à le poursuivre sans merci et à le faire crever de misère, nous verrons encore d'autres insurrections.

Niciodat? nu se mai întoarce o fiin??. Se vor naÈ™te milioane È™i miliarde, aproape la fel, cu ochi, nas, gur?, tidv? È™i înl?untru o gândire, f?r? ca vreodat? s? se mai arate aceasta care era culcat? în patul ?sta.

When we are young, our mornings are triumphant!" Then