“History is facts which become lies in the end; legends are lies which become history in the end.”
As quoted in The Observer (22 September 1957)
Context: What is history after all? History is facts which become lies in the end; legends are lies which become history in the end.
“We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don’t like?”
On his election to Académie Française (1955) Variant translation: Of course I believe in luck. How else does one explain the successes of one's enemies?
“The day of my birth, my death began its walk. It is walking toward me, without hurrying.”
Depuis le jour de ma naissance, ma mort s'est mise en marche. Elle marche à ma rencontre, sans se presser.
"Postambule" in La Fin du Potomac (1939); later published in Collected Works Vol. 2 (1947)
“An artist cannot speak about his art any more than a plant can discuss horticulture.”
As quoted in Newsweek (16 May 1955) Variant translation: Asking an artist to talk about his work is like asking a plant to discuss horticulture.
As quoted in New York World Telegram & Sun (21 August 1960); also in Threads: My Life Behind the Seams in the High-Stakes World of Fashion (2004) by Joseph Abboud, p. 79
"Du Rêve" in La Difficulté d’Etre [The Difficulty of Being] (1947)