“Now, of all acts the most complete is that of constructing. A work demands love, meditation, obedience to your finest thought, the invention of laws by your soul, and many other things that it draws miraculously from your own self, which did not suspect that it possessed them. This work proceeds from the most intimate center of your existence, and yet it is distinct from yourself.”

—  Paul Valéry

Socrates, p. 145
Eupalinos ou l'architecte (1921)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Sept. 27, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Now, of all acts the most complete is that of constructing. A work demands love, meditation, obedience to your finest t…" by Paul Valéry?
Paul Valéry photo
Paul Valéry 89
French poet, essayist, and philosopher 1871–1945

Related quotes

Alexander Maclaren photo

“You do not create a style. You work, and develop yourself; your style is an emanation from your own being.”

Katherine Anne Porter (1890–1980) American journalist, essayist, short story writer, novelist, and political activist

Writers at Work interview (1963)
Context: A cultivated style would be like a mask. Everybody knows it's a mask, and sooner or later you must show yourself — or at least, you show yourself as someone who could not afford to show himself, and so created something to hide behind... You do not create a style. You work, and develop yourself; your style is an emanation from your own being.

Agatha Christie photo
Yehuda Ashlag photo
Ella Wheeler Wilcox photo

“Look in; and learn the wrong, and right,
From your own soul's unwritten laws.
And when you question, or demur,
Let Love be your Interpreter.”

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850–1919) American author and poet

Assistance
Poetry quotes, New Thought Pastels (1913)
Context: Look to the Great Eternal Cause
And not to any man, for light.
Look in; and learn the wrong, and right,
From your own soul's unwritten laws.
And when you question, or demur,
Let Love be your Interpreter.

Osama bin Laden photo
Andrés Bonifacio photo

“Love your Country next to God, your honour, and most of all yourself.”

Andrés Bonifacio (1863–1897) Filipino nationalist and revolutionary

Inscription, UST Library, Manila, Philippines, 1 September 2013.

Bill Gates photo
Marcel Duchamp photo
Seneca the Younger photo

Related topics