“The past was but the cemetery of our illusions: one simply stubbed one's toes on the gravestones.”

—  Emile Zola

Source: The Masterpiece

Last update Sept. 27, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The past was but the cemetery of our illusions: one simply stubbed one's toes on the gravestones." by Emile Zola?
Emile Zola photo
Emile Zola54
French writer (1840-1902) 1840–1902

Related quotes

Robert Jordan photo

“Even a queen stubs her toe, but a wise woman watches the path.”

Robert Jordan (1948–2007) American writer

Lini
(15 October 1993)

Margaret Atwood photo

“One of the gravestones in the cemetery near the earliest church has an anchor on it and an hourglass, and the words In Hope.

In Hope. Why did they put that above a dead person? Was it the corpse hoping, or those still alive?”

Margaret Atwood book The Handmaid's Tale

Source: The Handmaid's Tale

“Sophie said a bad word. In the dim light she had stubbed her toe on one of the many dusty bricks piled around the place.
Naughty-naughty" Twinkle said.
Oh shut up!" Sophie said, standing on one leg to hold her toe. "Why don't you grow up?”

Diana Wynne Jones House of Many Ways

Source: House of Many Ways

Isaac Leib Peretz photo

“Nobody ever stubs his toe against a mountain. It's the little temptations that bring a man down.”

Isaac Leib Peretz (1852–1915) Yiddish language author and playwright

All for a Pinch of Snuff, c. 1910. Quoted in M. Samuel. Prince of the Ghetto. Alfred A. Knopf, 1948, p. 64.

Salman Rushdie photo

“I fell victim to the temptation of every autobiographer, to the illusion that since the past exists only in one's memories and the words which strive vainly to encapsulate them, it is possible to create past events simply by saying they occurred.”

Salman Rushdie book Midnight's Children

Source: Midnight's Children

Jerry Seinfeld photo

“Pain is knowledge rushing in to fill a gap. When you stub your toe on the foot of the bed, that was a gap in knowledge. And the pain is a lot of information really quick. That's what pain is.”

Jerry Seinfeld (1954) American comedian and actor

Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, Season 6, Episode 5: Trevor Noah http://comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com/trevor-noah-thats-the-whole-point-of-apartheid-jerry

Jim Gaffigan photo

“I curse in everyday life, but usually when I stub my toe. The topics I'm discussing, it's not necessary to curse. I found [cursing] is a sign that a joke is not finished or well-written.”

Jim Gaffigan (1966) comedian, actor, author

Michael McIntyre (February 9, 2007) "He's bringing home the bacon, from clubs to Super Bowl ads", The Plain Dealer, p. 30.

Aaron Klug photo

“I like teaching and the contact with young minds keeps one on one's toes.”

Aaron Klug (1926–2018) British chemist and biophysicist

in his Autobiography http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1982/klug-autobio.html, The Nobel Prizes 1982, Editor Wilhelm Odelberg, Nobel Foundation, Stockholm, 1983.

Daniel Kahneman photo

“The illusion that we understand the past fosters overconfidence in our ability to predict the future.”

Daniel Kahneman book Thinking, Fast and Slow

Source: Thinking, Fast and Slow

Related topics