Fear, true fear, is a savage frenzy. Of all the insanities of which we are capable, it is surely the cruelest. There is naught to equal its drive, and naught can survive its thrust. Georges Bernanos More Quotes by Georges Bernanos More Quotes From Georges Bernanos A poor man with nothing in his belly needs hope, illusion, more than bread. Georges Bernanos povertymenneeds It is the perpetual dread of fear, the fear of fear, that shapes the face of a brave man. Georges Bernanos braveryfearmen But I shall give less thought to the future, I shall work in the present. I feel such work is within my power. For I only succeed in small things, and when I am tried by anxiety, I am bound to say it is the small joys that release me. Georges Bernanos anxietyjoygiving Truth is meant to save you first, and the comfort comes afterwards. Georges Bernanos truthcomfortfirsts A thought which does not result in an action is nothing much, and an action which does not proceed from a thought is nothing at all. Georges Bernanos inspirationwisdomdoe I don't think we can ever learn much from ultra-sensitive, shifty faces, skilled in disguise, that hide themselves in lust, as beasts hide to die. Georges Bernanos lustfacesthinking There is nothing that God hates so much as a liar. Georges Bernanos hateliars And what have you laymen made of hell? A kind of penal servitude for eternity, on the lines of your convict prisons on earth, to which you condemn in advance all the wretched felons your police have hunted from the beginning - enemies of society, as you call them. You're kind enough to include the blasphemers and the profane. What proud or reasonable man could stomach such a notion of God's justice? And when you find that notion inconvenient it's easy enough for you to put it on one side. Hell is not to love any more, Madame. Not to love any more! Georges Bernanos policejusticemen When writing of oneself one should show no mercy. Yet why at the first attempt to discover one's own truth does all inner strength seem to melt away in floods of self-pity and tenderness and rising tears? Georges Bernanos inner-strengthselfwriting Suicide only really frightens those who are never tempted by it and never will be, for its darkness only welcomes those who are predestined to it. Georges Bernanos temptedsuicidedarkness What a cunning mixture of sentiment, pity, tenderness, irony surrounds adolescence, what knowing watchfulness! Young birds on their first flight are hardly so hovered around. Georges Bernanos teenageknowingbird Who are you to condemn another's sin? He who condemns sin becomes part of it, espouses it. Georges Bernanos sin Have you never been moved by poor men's fidelity, the image of you they form in their simple minds? Why should you always talk of their envy, without understanding that what they ask of you is not so much your worldly goods, as something very hard to define, which they themselves can put no name to; yet at times it consoles their loneliness; a dream of splendor, of magnificence, a tawdry dream, a poor man's dream -and yet God blesses it! Georges Bernanos lonelinesssimpledream I have just discovered something I have always known: we can no more escape from one another than we can escape from God. Georges Bernanos known Appearances are nothing.... And first of all they should not be feared, they are only dangerous to the weak. Georges Bernanos appearanceweakfirsts Optimism approves of everything, submits to everything, believes everything; it is the virtue above all of the taxpayer. Georges Bernanos optimismvirtuebelieve A man given to vice is always an idealist. Georges Bernanos givenvicesmen [P]ride has no intrinsic substance, being no more than the name given to the soul devouring itself. When that loathsome perversion of love has borne its fruit, it has another, more meaningful and weightier name. We call it hatred. Georges Bernanos hatrednamesmeaningful I know the compassion of others is a relief at first. I don't despise it. But it can't quench pain, it slips through your soul as through a sieve. And when our suffering has been dragged from one pity to another, as from one mouth to another, we can no longer respect or love it. Georges Bernanos paincompassionlove Hell, madame, is to love no longer. Georges Bernanos friendship-lovelovefriendship
