French Aphorists

"If you had been a friend or relative of Verlaine, I would have slapped him without a doubt. A humble reader in the midst of an anonymous crowd, I know only the immortal poet. My joy is to love him, my duty is to absolve him for the evil he has done to others. (August C.E.1896; Vergani, p. 111)"

"The hare. The subtle sound of the falling leaf puts her on her alert. She is as anxious as we are when we hear our furniture creaking in the night. (September C.E.1896; Vergani, p. 111)"

"The greatest man is only a child whom life has deceived. (October 17, C.E.1896; Vergani, p. 111)"

"phonographs have a grandmother's voice. (November 18, C.E.1896; Vergani, p. 114)"

"Rousseau, I read him in my slumber, and I want to suppress in myself all that made me slumber about him. (December 16, C.E.1896; Vergani, p. 117)"

"Provincial walls exude resentment. (December 30, C.E.1896; Vergani, p. 117)"

"And these old women, whom I have known as girls! Am I so old too? How did they wither like that? (May 13, C.E.1897; Vergani, p. 124)"

"The trees are perhaps the only ones who know the mystery of water in depth. (May 22, C.E.1897; Vergani, p. 124)"

"The bird does not perch on the rose bush because there is a rose: it perches on it because it has seen lice. (June 9, C.E.1897; Vergani, p. 126)"

"Her soul put belly. (June 16, C.E.1897; Vergani, p. 127)"

"fear of death makes one love the work that is all life. (July 10, C.E.1897; Vergani, p. 131)"

"If you could re-read me before reading me, you would love me much more. (July 30, C.E.1897; Vergani, p. 132)"

"My jokes will make a fortune, I won't. (July 30, C.E.1897; Vergani, p. 132)"

"God, who understands and forgives everything, will refuse to open the door of heaven to me if I have made a mistake in French. (September 6, C.E.1897; Vergani, p. 132)"

"Some men appear to have married only to prevent their wives from marrying others. (September 29, C.E.1897; p. 133)"

"The last verses of Verlaine. It's no longer a piece of writing: it's a dice game made with words. (October 1, C.E.1897; Vergani, p. 133)"

"actresses are very willing to play the part of an old woman but not a part of a mature woman. (November 16, C.E.1897; Vergani, p. 133)"

"A bad book is always better than a good comedy. (November 16, C.E.1897; Vergani, p. 133)"

"You don't die. death is a kind of brood life. (December 23, C.E.1897; Vergani, p. 135)"

"wrinkles are nothing but broadly engraved smiles. (December 25, C.E.1897; Vergani, p. 135)"

"Mallarmé is also untranslatable into French. (March 1, C.E.1898; Vergani, p. 144)"

"My will is starting to have a bit of wrinkles. (March 24, C.E.1898; Vergani, p. 144)"

"I can swim just enough to restrain myself from saving others. (July 20, C.E.1898; Vergani, p. 149)"

"If you want to make sure you're always doing your duty, do what you find unpleasant. (August 15, C.E.1898)"

"Both I and the poor pig will not be appreciated until after we die. (October 1, C.E.1898; Vergani, p. 149)"

"My goodness is a moonlight that doesn't warm. (October 1, C.E.1898; Vergani, p. 149)"

"I am a writer whose only desire for perfection prevents me from being great. (January 15, C.E.1899; Vergani, p. 151)"

"The cat is the life of furniture. (February 11, C.E.1899; Vergani, p. 151)"

"Everything we are we put in our first book. Later on, we only pluck out the weeds of our faults and cultivate our first qualities, when we really manage to do something. (May 1, C.E.1899; Vergani, p. 152)"

"At the bottom of all patriotism is war: that's why I'm not a patriot. (June 14, C.E.1899; Vergani, p. 153)"

"If the house of happiness were to be built, the largest room would be the waiting room. (August 1, C.E.1899)"

"The [[hare]'s lair, even if the hare is absent, is always full of fear. (September 23, C.E.1899; Vergani, p. 155)"

"A bit of profanity emphasizes talent. (October 26, C.E.1899; Vergani, p. 155)"

"If you remember me with a statue, make a hole in it so that the birds can come and drink it. (December 10, C.E.1899; Vergani, p. 156)"

"I proceed through life like a mole. From time to time, I drop some dirt. A brief clearing. Then, back in the dark. (May 10, C.E.1900; Vergani, p. 168)"

"The peasants carry their heavy hands as if they were carrying old tools. (June 2, C.E.1900; Vergani, p. 169)"

"I can't look at a tree without being crushed by the universe. (June 16, C.E.1900; Vergani, p. 169)"

"Our goodness is but our badness that sleeps. (June 2, C.E.1900; Vergani, p. 169)"

"Those who have spoken best of death are all dead. (August 9, C.E.1900; Vergani, p. 172)"

"The white blackbird exists, but it is so white that you can't see it. The black blackbird is but its shadow. (August 11, C.E.1900; Vergani, p. 172)"

"In some friends there is nothing pleasant but their virginity. When you got married to them, things don't go well anymore. (October 9, C.E.1900; Vergani, p. 173)"

"remorse go back and forth dressed in a small carabiniere suit. (October 9, C.E.1900; Vergani, p. 173)"

"People who have themselves cremated think that, reduced to ashes, they will escape from God. (October 12, 1900; Vergani, p. 174)"

"Barring complications, he will die. (October 12, C.E.1900; Vergani, p. 174)"

"The work of others disgusts me, and I don't like my own. That's my strength and my weakness. (October 12, C.E.1900; Vergani, p. 174)"

"[Leaf|leaves]] move like the lips of a child who doesn't quite know his lesson and who is looking for what he has to say. (December 17, C.E.1900; Vergani, p. 175)"

"Life leads to anything, as long as you get out of it. (January 8, C.E.1901; Vergani, p. 177)"

"That little girl seems to be in a cage behind her grandiose undulating harp, and she keeps scratching the bars of her cage with her fingers. (January 28, C.E.1901; Vergani, p. 178)"

"You go to visit a sick person to tell you about all the illnesses you have had or that others have had. (February 18, C.E.1901; Vergani, p. 180)"

"Today I practice laughing for a good hour, to deserve the reputation of a gay writer that they wanted to give me. (February 18, C.E.1901; Vergani, p. 180)"