Joseph Joubert: Citations en anglais (Page 6)

“What we say is similar to what we are.”

“Sloth waiting for inspiration.”

“Man loves what is small; and he loves what is big, through the same weakness.”

“One must know how to enter the ideas of others and how to leave them. One must know how to leave one's own ideas and how to come back to them.”

“Speak for the ear and write for the memory.”

“There must be several voices together in one voice for it to be beautiful. And several meanings in one word for it to be beautiful.”

“Genius begins beautiful works, but only labor finishes them.”

“And perhaps there is no advice to give a writer more important than this: — Never write anything that does not give you great pleasure.”

“All beautiful words are susceptible to more than one meaning (or signification).”

“When men are imbeciles, the one who is mad dominates the others.”

“The direction of the mind is more important than its progress.”

“All things that are easy to say have already been perfectly said.”

“Logic works, metaphysics contemplates.”

“The number of books is infinite.”

“The good is worth more than the best.”

“Pride swells the brain. Vanity carries with it smoke, minds. Hatred tightens the heart. Love warms the lungs. Admiration stops the heart. We breathe through desire. We want to pump up all that delights, and dilates. Sadness is inaction. The love that comes from the blood, the love that comes from the soul.”

“Once we have tasted the juice of words, our mind can no longer pass them by. We drink thought from them.”

“One must be an illusionary rather than a visionary.”

“All clear and transparent words appear to be beautiful sounds. Yes and no are not precisely clear words, but definite words. In clear words, there is more light than movement or attitude.”