Quotes from book
Memoirs of Hadrian

Name: Memoirs of Hadrian
Author: Marguerite Yourcenar

Marguerite YourcenarOriginal title Mémoires d'Hadrien (French, 1951)

Memoirs of Hadrian is a novel by the Belgian-born French writer Marguerite Yourcenar about the life and death of Roman Emperor Hadrian. First published in France in French in 1951 as Mémoires d'Hadrien, the book was an immediate success, meeting with enormous critical acclaim. Although the historical Hadrian wrote an autobiography, it has been lost.

“He had reached that moment in life, different for each one of us, when a man abandonds himself to his demon or to his genius, following a mysterious law which bids him either to destroy or outdo himself.”

Marguerite Yourcenar book Memoirs of Hadrian

Source: Memoirs of Hadrian

“Of all our games, love's play is the only one which threatens to unsettle the soul…”

Marguerite Yourcenar book Memoirs of Hadrian

Source: Memoirs of Hadrian

“The true birthplace is that wherein for the first time one looks intelligently upon oneself; my first homelands have been books.”

Marguerite Yourcenar book Memoirs of Hadrian

Le véritable lieu de naissance est celui où l'on a porté pour la première fois un coup d'oeil intelligent sur soi-même: mes premières patries ont été des livres.
Source: Memoirs of Hadrian (1951), p. 33

“I am not sure that the discovery of love is necessarily more exquisite than the discovery of poetry.”

Marguerite Yourcenar book Memoirs of Hadrian

Source: Memoirs of Hadrian

“Nothing is slower than the true birth of a man.”

Marguerite Yourcenar book Memoirs of Hadrian

Rien n'est plus lent que la véritable naissance d'un homme.
Source: Memoirs of Hadrian (1951), p. 258

“Our great mistake is to try to exact from each person virtues which he does not possess, and to neglect the cultivation of those which he has.”

Marguerite Yourcenar book Memoirs of Hadrian

Source: Memoirs of Hadrian

“There are books which one should not attempt before having passed the age of forty.”

Marguerite Yourcenar book Memoirs of Hadrian

Source: Memoirs of Hadrian

“I knew that good like bad becomes a routine, that the temporary tends to endure, that what is external permeates to the inside, and that the mask, given time, comes to be the face itself.”

Marguerite Yourcenar book Memoirs of Hadrian

Je savais que le bien comme le mal est affaire de routine, que le temporaire se prolonge, que l'extérieur s'infiltre au dedans, et que le masque, à la longue, devient visage.
Source: Memoirs of Hadrian (1951), p. 97

“The memory of most men is an abandoned cemetery where lie, unsung and unhonored, the dead whom they have ceased to cherish.”

Marguerite Yourcenar book Memoirs of Hadrian

La mémoire de la plupart des hommes est un cimetière abandonné, où gisent sans honneurs des morts qu'ils ont cessé de chérir.
Source: Memoirs of Hadrian (1951), p. 209

“Human beings betray their worst failings when they marvel to find that a world ruler is neither foolishly indolent, presumptuous, nor cruel.”

Marguerite Yourcenar book Memoirs of Hadrian

Les êtres humains avouent leurs pires faiblesses quand ils s'étonnent qu'un maître du monde ne soit pas sottement indolent, présomptueux, ou cruel.
Source: Memoirs of Hadrian (1951), p. 103

“Passion satisfied has its innocence, almost as fragile as any other.”

Marguerite Yourcenar book Memoirs of Hadrian

La passion comblée a son innocence, presque aussi fragile que toute autre.
Source: Memoirs of Hadrian (1951), p. 156

“Any law too often subject to infraction is bad; it is the duty of the legislator to repeal or change it.”

Marguerite Yourcenar book Memoirs of Hadrian

Toute loi trop souvent transgressée est mauvaise: c'est au législateur à l'abroger ou à la changer.
Source: Memoirs of Hadrian (1951), p. 113

“Every bliss achieved is a masterpiece: the slightest error turns it awry, and it alters with one touch of doubt; any heaviness detracts from its charm, the least stupidity renders it dull.”

Marguerite Yourcenar book Memoirs of Hadrian

Tout bonheur est un chef-d'oeuvre: la moindre erreur le fausse, la moindre hésitation l'altère, la moindre lourdeur le dépare, la moindre sottise l'abêtit.
Source: Memoirs of Hadrian (1951), p. 164

“Our civil laws will never be supple enough to fit the immense and changing variety of facts. Laws change more slowly than custom, and though dangerous when they fall behind the times are more dangerous still when they presume to anticipate custom.”

Marguerite Yourcenar book Memoirs of Hadrian

Nos lois civiles ne seront jamais assez souples pour s'adapter à l'immense et fluide variété des faits. Elles changent moins vite que les moeurs; dangereuses quand elles retardent sur celles-ci, elles le sont davantage quand elles se mêlent de les précéder.
Source: Memoirs of Hadrian (1951), p. 113

“Overhead shone the great star of the constellation of Lyra, destined to be the polar star for men who will live tens of thousands of years after we have ceased to be.”

Marguerite Yourcenar book Memoirs of Hadrian

Source: Memoirs of Hadrian (1951), p. 148

“Leisure moments: each life well regulated has some such intervals, and he who cannot make way for them does not know how to live.”

Marguerite Yourcenar book Memoirs of Hadrian

Des moments libres. Toute vie bien réglée a les siens, et qui ne sait pas les provoquer ne sait pas vivre.
Source: Memoirs of Hadrian (1951), p. 43

“The written word has taught me to listen to the human voice, much as the great unchanging statues have taught me to appreciate bodily motions.”

Marguerite Yourcenar book Memoirs of Hadrian

La lettre écrite m'a enseigné à écouter la voix humaine, tout comme les grandes attitudes immobiles des statues m'ont appris à apprécier les gestes.
Source: Memoirs of Hadrian (1951), p. 21

“There is more than one kind of wisdom, and all are essential in the world; it is not bad that they should alternate.”

Marguerite Yourcenar book Memoirs of Hadrian

Il y a plus d'une sagesse, et toutes sont nécessaires au monde; il n'est pas mauvais qu'elles alternent.
Source: Memoirs of Hadrian (1951), p. 270