An act of goodness is of itself an act of happiness. No reward coming after the event can compare with the sweet reward that went with it. Maurice Maeterlinck More Quotes by Maurice Maeterlinck More Quotes From Maurice Maeterlinck And on this earth of ours there are but few souls that can withstand the dominion of the soul that has suffered itself to become beautiful. Maurice Maeterlinck soulearthbeautiful I knew that if I was captured by the Germans I would be shot at once, since I have always been counted as an enemy of Germany because of my play, 'Le Bourgmestre de Stillemonde,' which dealt with the conditions in Belgium during the German Occupation of 1918. Maurice Maeterlinck germanyplayenemy The value of ourselves is but the value of our melancholy and our disquiet. Maurice Maeterlinck melancholymiserysadness What man is there that does not laboriously, though all unconsciously, himself fashion the sorrow that is to be the pivot of his life. Maurice Maeterlinck fashionsorrowmen It is only in the space that our thoughts and our feelings enclose that our happiness can breathe in freedom. Maurice Maeterlinck breathingfreedomhappiness The dog is the only living being that has found and recognizes an indubitable, tangible and definite god. He knows to whom above him to give himself. He has not to seek for a superior and infinite power. Maurice Maeterlinck dogfriendshipgiving Once at a potent leader's voice I stayed; Once I went back when a good monarch prayed; Mortals, howe'er we grieve, howe'er deplore, The flying shadow will return no more. Maurice Maeterlinck voiceleadergrieving We should tell ourselves once and for all that it is the first duty of the soul to become as happy, complete, independent, and great as lies in its power. To this end we may sacrifice even the passion for sacrifice, for sacrifice never should be the means of ennoblement, but only the sign of being ennobled. Maurice Maeterlinck passionhappinesslying I am moved by the light. Maurice Maeterlinck movedlight No great inner event befalls those who summon it not Maurice Maeterlinck events In any event, a truth that disheartens, because it is true, is still of far more value than the most stimulating of falsehoods. Maurice Maeterlinck truth-and-falsehoodpositive-atheismgood-life Physical suffering apart, not a single sorrow exists that can touch us except through our thoughts. Maurice Maeterlinck our-thoughtssorrowsuffering Most creatures have a vague belief that a very precarious hazard, a kind of transparent membrane, divides death from love; and that the profound idea of nature demands that the giver of life should die at the moment of giving. Maurice Maeterlinck givingsexideas Sacrifice may be a flower that virtue will pluck on its road, but it was not to gather this flower that virtue set forth on its travels. Maurice Maeterlinck sacrificeflowermay The dog who meets with a good master is the happier of the two. Maurice Maeterlinck mastersdogtwo Is not every action of Hamlet induced by a fanatical impulse, which tells him that duty consists in revenge alone? And dose it need superhuman efforts to recognize that revenge never can be duty? I say again that Hamlet thinks much, but that he is by no means wise. Maurice Maeterlinck revengewisemean There comes no adventure but wears to our soul the shape of our everyday thoughts. Maurice Maeterlinck everydaysouladventure Every progressive spirit is opposed by a thousand mediocre minds appointed to guard the past. Maurice Maeterlinck We are alone, absolutely alone on this chance planet and, amid all the forms of life that surround us, not one, excepting the dog, has made an alliance with us. Maurice Maeterlinck We possess only the happiness we are able to understand. Maurice Maeterlinck onlyunderstandablehappiness
