“-and at the same time how deserving of life we can be, when we can honor this beauty that owes us nothing.” — Muriel Barbery Beauty Copy Share Image
“I wonder if the true movement of the world might not be a voice raised in song.” — Muriel Barbery Song Copy Share Image
“I don't give a damn about where I happen to be, provided nothing stops me from going into my mind.” — Muriel Barbery Mind Copy Share Image
Don't let the cat out or the concierge in: this is the first principle of socialist ladies. — Muriel Barbery Cat Copy Share Image
“I had a brief glimpse of a frail, mature man carrying a ravaged child in his arms...” — Muriel Barbery Children Copy Share Image
“Language is a bountiful gift and its usage, an elaboration of community and society, is a sacred work.” — Muriel Barbery Language Copy Share Image
“I understood that I was suffering because I couldn't make anyone else around me feel better.” — Muriel Barbery Copy Share Image
“The only purpose of cats is that they constitute mobile decorative objects, a concept which I find intellectually interesting, but unfortunately our… — Muriel Barbery Cats Copy Share Image
“There was only one thing I wanted: to be left alone, without too many demand upon my person, so that for a… — Muriel Barbery Hunger Copy Share Image
Don't worry Renee, I won't commit suicide and I won't burn a thing. Because from now on, for you, I'll be searching… — Muriel Barbery Beauty Copy Share Image
“...Uncertain of my strange words, as always I am saved by the inability of living creatures to believe anything that might cause… — Muriel Barbery Copy Share Image
They didn't recognize me," I repeat. He stops in turn, my hand still on his arm. "It is because they have never… — Muriel Barbery Copy Share Image
When illness enters a home, not only does it take hold of a body. It also weaves a dark web between hearts,… — Muriel Barbery Body Copy Share Image
Life has meaning and we grown-ups know what it is is the universal lie that everyone is supposed to believe. Once you… — Muriel Barbery Adults Copy Share Image
“Every day I tell myself that my sister cannot possibly sink any further into the slough of disgrace and, every day, I… — Muriel Barbery Copy Share Image
“I don't know if you have any idea what a high school in Paris is like in this day and age in… — Muriel Barbery Drugs Copy Share Image
When something is bothering me, I seek refuge. No need to travel far; a trip to the realm of literary memory will… — Muriel Barbery Books Copy Share Image
“Neptune can sense that I love him; his multiple desires are perfectly clear to me. What charms me about the whole business… — Muriel Barbery Mistress Copy Share Image
“The time of man is coming, and of this I am certain: neither death, nor life, nor the spirits, nor the present,… — Muriel Barbery Copy Share Image
“They have the same relationship that all progressive middle-class women have with their cleaning ladies, although Maman really thinks she is the… — Muriel Barbery Copy Share Image
“This is eminently true of many happy moments in life. Freed from the demands of decision and intention, adrift on some inner… — Muriel Barbery Happiness Copy Share Image
For the first time in my life I understood the meaning of the word 'never'. And it's really awful. You say the… — Muriel Barbery Copy Share Image
“A terroir only exists by virtue of one's childhood mythology . . . we have invented these words of tradition rooted deep… — Muriel Barbery Becoming an adult Copy Share Image
“What I really devoured . . . was the truculence of my hosts' language: the syntax may have been brutally sloppy, but… — Muriel Barbery Copy Share Image
“Just by observing the adults around me I understood very early on that life goes by in no time at all, yet… — Muriel Barbery Life Copy Share Image
In a split second of eternity, everything is changed, transfigured. A few bars of music, rising from an unfamiliar place, a touch… — Muriel Barbery Copy Share Image
“So here is my profound thought for the day: This is the first time I have met someone who seeks out people… — Muriel Barbery Copy Share Image
“If people could climb higher in the social hierarchy in proportion to their incompetence, I guarantee the world would not go round… — Muriel Barbery Incompetence Copy Share Image
“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 Humor Copy Share Image
“There are times, however, when life becomes a phantom comedy. As if aroused from a dream, we watch ourselves in action and,… — Muriel Barbery Art Copy Share Image
...This is the first time I have met someone who seeks out people and who sees beyond...We never look beyond our assumptions… — Muriel Barbery Assumption Copy Share Image
“I am an intellectual (who makes fun of other intellectuals).” — Muriel Barbery Intellectual Copy Share Image
I thought: pity the poor in spirit who know neither the enchantment nor the beauty of language. — Muriel Barbery Beauty Copy Share Image
“Maybe that's what being alive is about: so we can track down those movments that are dying.” — Muriel Barbery Alive Copy Share Image
But the world, in its present state, is no place for princesses — Muriel Barbery Princess Copy Share Image
“If there is one thing I detest, it's when people transform their powerlessness or alienation into a creed.” — Muriel Barbery Copy Share Image
“We musn't forget that our bodies decline, friends die, everyone forgets about us, and the end is solitude,” — Muriel Barbery Friendship Copy Share Image
“As for me, I implore fate to give me the chance to see beyond myself and truly meet someone.” — Muriel Barbery Destiny Copy Share Image
