---
title: "1 Characters Lives Quotes By Pierre Bayard"
description: "1 Characters Lives quotes by Pierre Bayard. Plus more from Pierre Bayard and more Characters Lives sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/558/pierre-bayard-29513_books_a-great-number-of-elements-in-the-charac_1030375.jpg"
---

> [ “A great number of elements in the characters’ lives, both psychic and factual, are not communicated to us. \[…\] These characters, I believe, enjoy a much greater autonomy than we usually think, and are able to take initiatives unknown both… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayard/a-great-number-of-elements-in-the-characters-lives-both-psychic-and/)

[Pierre Bayard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayard/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/558/pierre-bayard-29513_books_a-great-number-of-elements-in-the-charac_1030375.jpg)

## More by Pierre Bayard

> [ “\[…\] there exists around the written world opened by the work a multitude of other possible worlds, which we can complete by means of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayard/there-exists-around-the-written-world-opened-by-the-work-a-multitude/)

[Pierre Bayard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayard/)

> [“The paradox of reading is that the path toward ourselves passes through books, but that this must remain a passage. It is a traversal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayard/the-paradox-of-reading-is-that-the-path-toward-ourselves-passes/)

[Pierre Bayard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayard/)

> [ “\[…\] a given text may seem fictional or actual depending on the context in which we encounter it. The same is true for oral… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayard/a-given-text-may-seem-fictional-or-actual-depending-on-the-context-in/)

[Pierre Bayard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayard/)

> [“As may be seen, there is only one sensible piece of advice to give to those who find themselves having to talk to an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayard/as-may-be-seen-there-is-only-one-sensible-piece-of-advice-to-give-to/)

[Pierre Bayard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayard/)

> [ “A great number of elements in the characters’ lives, both psychic and factual, are not communicated to us. \[…\] These characters, I believe, enjoy… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayard/a-great-number-of-elements-in-the-characters-lives-both-psychic-and/)

[Pierre Bayard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayard/)

> [“(in which, along with Montaigne, we raise the question of whether a book you have read and completely forgotten, and which you have even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayard/in-which-along-with-montaigne-we-raise-the-question-of-whether-a-book/)

[Pierre Bayard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayard/)

> [“Criticism demands infinitely more culture than artistic creation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayard/criticism-demands-infinitely-more-culture-than-artistic-creation/)

[Pierre Bayard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayard/)

> [“Reading is first and foremost non-reading. Even in the case of the most passionate lifelong readers, the act of picking up and opening a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayard/reading-is-first-and-foremost-non-reading-even-in-the-case-of-the/)

[Pierre Bayard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayard/)

> [“Our relation to books is a shadowy space haunted by the ghosts of memory, and the real value of books lies in their ability…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayard/our-relation-to-books-is-a-shadowy-space-haunted-by-the-ghosts-of/)

[Pierre Bayard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayard/)

> [“Fictional characters exert a great deal of influence over our choices in love by representing inaccessible ideals to which we try to make others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayard/fictional-characters-exert-a-great-deal-of-influence-over-our-choices/)

[Pierre Bayard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayard/)

> [“To speak without shame about books we haven’t read, we would thus do well to free ourselves of the oppressive image of cultural literacy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayard/to-speak-without-shame-about-books-we-haven-t-read-we-would-thus-do/)

[Pierre Bayard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayard/)

> [“The title of the work, its place in the collective library, the nature of the person who tells us about it, the atmosphere established…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayard/the-title-of-the-work-its-place-in-the-collective-library-the-nature/)

[Pierre Bayard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayard/)

> [“Our relationship with literary characters, at least to those that exercise a certain attraction over us, rests in fact on a denial. We know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayard/our-relationship-with-literary-characters-at-least-to-those-that/)

[Pierre Bayard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayard/)

> [“It is the reader who comes to complete the work and to close, albeit temporarily, the world that it opens, and the reader does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayard/it-is-the-reader-who-comes-to-complete-the-work-and-to-close-albeit/)

[Pierre Bayard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayard/)

> [“if you want to be able to talk about a place, the best thing to do is stay at home.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayard/if-you-want-to-be-able-to-talk-about-a-place-the-best-thing-to-do-is/)

[Pierre Bayard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayard/)

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