Muriel Barbery

“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…

— Muriel Barbery

What is writing, no matter how lavish the pieces, if it says nothing of the truth, cares little for the heart, and…

— Muriel Barbery

Live or die: mere consequences of what you have built. What matters is building well. So here we are I've assigned myself…

— Muriel Barbery

“A terroir only exists by virtue of one's childhood mythology . . . we have invented these words of tradition rooted deep…

— Muriel Barbery

“The tea ritual: such a precise repetition of the same gestures and the same tastes; accession to simple,authentic and refined sensations, a…

— Muriel Barbery

As always, I am saved by the inability of living creatures to believe anything that might cause the walls of their little…

— Muriel Barbery

“I wonder if I am not turning into a contemplative . . . But those roses . They were something else. I…

— Muriel Barbery

Personally I think that grammar is a way to attain beauty.

— Muriel Barbery

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

Beautiful things should belong to beautiful souls.

— Muriel Barbery

I know that they're all unhappy because nobody loves the right person the way they should and because they don't understand that…

— Muriel Barbery

We never look beyond our assumptions and what's worse, we have given up trying to meet others; we just meet ourselves.

— Muriel Barbery

“To rich people it must seem that the ordinary little people..experience human emotions with less intensity and greater indifference...The fact that we…

— Muriel Barbery

I may know that the world is an ugly place, I still don't want to see it.

— Muriel Barbery

“Personally I think that grammar is a way to attain Beauty. When you speak, or read, or write, you can tell if…

— Muriel Barbery

“Behold the man I also know how to be.”

— Muriel Barbery

Moments like this act as magical interludes, placing our hearts at the edge of our souls: fleetingly, yet intensely, a fragment of…

— Muriel Barbery

“It's all well and good to have profound thoughts on a regular basis, but I think it's not enough. Well, I mean:…

— Muriel Barbery

“So here is my profound thought for the day: This is the first time I have met someone who seeks out people…

— Muriel Barbery

This pause in time, within time ... When did I first experience the exquisite sense of surrender that is only possible with…

— Muriel Barbery

... they have never seen you ... I would recognize you anywhere.

— Muriel Barbery

“Wine is the refined jewel that only a grown woman will prefer to the sparkling trinkets adored by little girls.”

— Muriel Barbery

“Don't we all deal with life the way we do our military service? Doing what we can, while we wait either to…

— Muriel Barbery

“If people could climb higher in the social hierarchy in proportion to their incompetence, I guarantee the world would not go round…

— Muriel Barbery

“This is eminently true of many happy moments in life. Freed from the demands of decision and intention, adrift on some inner…

— Muriel Barbery