Of what use were the arts if they were only the reproduction and the imitation of life? — Alfred de Vigny Copy Share Image
I have a private theory, Sir, that there are no heroes and no monsters in this world. Only children should be allowed to use… — Alfred de Vigny Copy Share Image
A calm despair, without angry convulsions or reproaches directed at heaven, is the essence of wisdom. — Alfred de Vigny Copy Share Image
The study of social progress is to-day not less needed in literature than is the analysis of the human heart. — Alfred de Vigny Copy Share Image
From this, without doubt, sprang the fable. Man created it thus, because it was not given him to see more than himself and nature,… — Alfred de Vigny Copy Share Image
The existence of the soldier, next to capital punishment, is the most grievous vestige of barbarism which survives among men. — Alfred de Vigny Copy Share Image
I think, then, that man, after having satisfied his first longing for facts, wanted something fuller - some grouping, some adaptation to his capacity… — Alfred de Vigny Copy Share Image
What it values most of all is the sum total of events and the advance of civilization, which carries individuals along with it; but,… — Alfred de Vigny Copy Share Image
“We have also set up for them an edifying project for a continuous mitigation of their own tyranny, ascribing to them an unshakeable faith in the triumph of virtue, as well as in the moral justification of their crimes. These are the theories of well-meaning children who see everything in black or white, dream of nothing but angels or demons,… — Alfred de Vigny Copy Share
On the day when man told the story of his life to man, history was born. — Alfred de Vigny Copy Share Image
Doubt is the freedom of thought. Any claim to truth can be doubted. — Alfred de Vigny Copy Share Image
