Our true birthplace is that in which we cast for the first time an intelligent eye on ourselves. My first homelands were… — Marguerite Yourcenar Copy Share Image
One reads thousands of books, of poets, modern and ancient, as one meets thousands of people. What remains of it all is… — Marguerite Yourcenar Copy Share Image
There are books which one should not attempt before having passed the age of forty. — Marguerite Yourcenar Copy Share Image
Leaving behind books is even more beautiful — there are far too many children. — Marguerite Yourcenar Copy Share Image
“The written word has taught me to listen to the human voice, much as the great unchanging statues have taught me to… — Marguerite Yourcenar Copy Share Image
The true birthplace is that wherein for the first time one looks intelligently upon oneself; my first homelands have been books, and… — Marguerite Yourcenar Copy Share Image
I could say that all my books were conceived by the time I was twenty, although they were not to be written… — Marguerite Yourcenar Copy Share Image
A book may lie dormant for fifty years or for two thousand years in a forgotten corner of a library, only to… — Marguerite Yourcenar Copy Share Image
There are stages in bread-making quite similar to the stages of writing. You begin with something shapeless, which sticks to your fingers,… — Marguerite Yourcenar Copy Share Image
“Any law too often subject to infraction is bad; it is the duty of the legislator to repeal or to change it, lest the… — Marguerite Yourcenar Copy Share
Of all our games, love's play is the only one which threatens to unsettle the soul... — Marguerite Yourcenar Copy Share
A book may lie dormant for fifty years or for two thousand years in a forgotten corner of a library, only to reveal, upon… — Marguerite Yourcenar Copy Share
“To eat fruit is to welcome into oneself a fair living object, which is alien to us but is nourished and protected like us… — Marguerite Yourcenar Copy Share
Writing is a perpetual choice between a thousand expressions, none of which satisfies me, none of which, above all, satisfies me without the others.… — Marguerite Yourcenar Copy Share
The landscape of my days appears to be composed, like mountainous regions, of varied materials heaped up pell-mell. There I see my nature, itself… — Marguerite Yourcenar Copy Share
But happiness is brittle, and if men and circumstances don't destroy it, it is threatened by ghosts. — Marguerite Yourcenar Copy Share
A young musician plays scales in his room and only bores his family. A beginning writer, on the other hand, sometimes has the misfortune… — Marguerite Yourcenar Copy Share
“ A amizade é, acima de tudo, certeza - é isso o que a distingue do amor.” — Marguerite Yourcenar Copy Share
“It is not by blood, anyhow, that man's true continuity is established: Alexander's direct heir is Caesar, and not the frail infant born of… — Marguerite Yourcenar Copy Share
“Quel bel levriero... si distese sulla mia vita (Memorie di Adriano, Saeculum Aureum)” — Marguerite Yourcenar Copy Share
Love is a punishment. We are punished for not having been strong enough to remain alone. — Marguerite Yourcenar Copy Share
Everything turns out to be valuable that one does for one’s self without thought of profit. — Marguerite Yourcenar Copy Share
The world is big … May it please the One who perchance is to expand the human heart to life's full measure. — Marguerite Yourcenar Copy Share
