“The problem is that children believe what adults say and once they're adults themselves they exact their revenge by deceiving their own children. "Life has meaning and we grown-ups know what it is" is the universal lie that everyone is… — Muriel Barbery Copy Share Image
“All our family acquaintances have followed the same path: their youth spent trying to make the most of their intelligence, squeezing their studies like a lemon to make sure they'd secure a spot among the elite, then the rest of… — Muriel Barbery Copy Share Image
“Those who can, do; those who can't, teach; those who can't teach, teach the teachers; and those who can't teach the teachers go into… — Muriel Barbery Copy Share
What is writing, no matter how lavish the pieces, if it says nothing of the truth, cares little for the heart, and is merely… — Muriel Barbery Copy Share
Live or die: mere consequences of what you have built. What matters is building well. So here we are I've assigned myself a new… — Muriel Barbery Copy Share
“A terroir only exists by virtue of one's childhood mythology . . . we have invented these words of tradition rooted deep in the… — Muriel Barbery Copy Share
“The tea ritual: such a precise repetition of the same gestures and the same tastes; accession to simple,authentic and refined sensations, a license given… — Muriel Barbery Copy Share
As always, I am saved by the inability of living creatures to believe anything that might cause the walls of their little mental assumptions… — Muriel Barbery Copy Share
“I wonder if I am not turning into a contemplative . . . But those roses . They were something else. I was having… — Muriel Barbery Copy Share
To be poor, ugly and, moreover, intelligent condemns one in our society to a dark and disillusioned life...to beauty all is forgiven. — Muriel Barbery Copy Share
I know that they're all unhappy because nobody loves the right person the way they should and because they don't understand that it's really… — Muriel Barbery Copy Share
We never look beyond our assumptions and what's worse, we have given up trying to meet others; we just meet ourselves. — Muriel Barbery Copy Share
“To rich people it must seem that the ordinary little people..experience human emotions with less intensity and greater indifference...The fact that we might be… — Muriel Barbery Copy Share
I may know that the world is an ugly place, I still don't want to see it. — Muriel Barbery Copy Share
“Personally I think that grammar is a way to attain Beauty. When you speak, or read, or write, you can tell if you’ve said… — Muriel Barbery Copy Share
