André Maurois quotes

André Maurois was a French author and biographer renowned for his literary works and insightful biographies. His novels and essays explored human relationships, history, and society with elegance and depth. He contributed significantly to French literature and remains widely read and appreciated. Here are 238 of his quotes:

A successful marriage is an edifice that must be rebuilt every day. (André Maurois)
Business is a combination of war and sport. View quote
André Maurois
In literature as in love, we are astonished at what is chosen by others. View quote
André Maurois
We owe to the Middle Ages the two worst inventions of humanity - romantic love and gunpowder. View quote
André Maurois
A happy marriage is a long conversation that always seems too short. View quote
André Maurois
Growing old is no more than a bad habit which a busy person has no time to form. View quote
André Maurois
A marriage without conflicts is almost as inconceivable as a nation without crises. View quote
André Maurois
Everything that is in agreement with our personal desires seems true; everything that is not puts us in a rage. View quote
André Maurois
Without a family, man, alone in the world, trembles with the cold. View quote
André Maurois
Advice is always a confession. View quote
André Maurois
Conversation would be vastly improved by the constant use of four simple words: I do not know. (André Maurois)
One has very little influence upon one's children. Their characters are what they are and one can do nothing to change them. View quote
André Maurois
Woman's great strength lies in being late or absent. Presence immediately reveals the weak points of our beloved; when she is absent she become one of the sylph-like figures of our adolescence whom we endowed with perfection. View quote
André Maurois
We don't go to school to learn, but to be soaked in the prejudices of our class, without which we should be useless and unhappy. View quote
André Maurois
The first recipe for happiness is: Avoid too lengthy meditation on the past. View quote
André Maurois
A true woman loves a strong man because she knows his weaknesses. She protects as much as she is protected. View quote
André Maurois
Stupidity is a factor to be reckoned with in human affairs. The true leader always expects to encounter it, and prepares to endure it patiently so long as it is normal stupidity. He knows that his ideas will be distorted, his orders carelessly executed; and that there will be jealousy among his assistants. He takes these inevitable phenomena into account, and instead of attempting to find men without faults, who are non-existent, he tries to make use of the best men at his disposal - as they are, and not as they ought to be. View quote
André Maurois
Smile, for everyone lacks self-confidence and more than any other one thing a smile reassures them. View quote
André Maurois
If men could regard the events of their own lives with more open minds, they would frequently discover that they did not really desire the things they failed to obtain. View quote
André Maurois
For intelligent people, action often means escape from thought, but it is a reasonable and a wise escape. View quote
André Maurois
We appreciate frankness from those who like us. Frankness from others is called insolence. (André Maurois)
We console ourselves with several friends for not having found one real one. View quote
André Maurois
A gentleman is never in a hurry. View quote
André Maurois
British conversation is like a game of cricket or a boxing match; personal allusions are forbidden like hitting below the belt, and anyone who loses his temper is disqualified. View quote
André Maurois
There are very few really brilliant men who have not had at least one madman among their ancestors. View quote
André Maurois