Perhaps the only misplaced curiosity is that which persists in trying to find out here, on this side of death, what lies beyond the grave. Sidonie Gabrielle Colette More Quotes by Sidonie Gabrielle Colette More Quotes From Sidonie Gabrielle Colette A happy childhood is poor preparation for human contacts. Sidonie Gabrielle Colette childhood preparation happiness January, month of empty pockets! let us endure this evil month, anxious as a theatrical producer's forehead. Sidonie Gabrielle Colette theatre months evil It is wise to apply the oil of refined politeness to the mechanisms of friendship. Sidonie Gabrielle Colette wise best-friend friendship You don't think before you do something foolish. You do your thinking afterwards. Sidonie Gabrielle Colette foolish thinking To a poet, silence is an acceptable response, even a flattering one. Sidonie Gabrielle Colette flattering poetic silence The only virtue on which I pride myself is my self-doubt; when a writer loses her self-doubt, the time has come to lay aside her pen. Sidonie Gabrielle Colette pride self doubt Sincerity is not a spontaneous flower nor is modesty either. Sidonie Gabrielle Colette modesty sincerity flower Jealousy is not at all low, but it catches us humbled and bowed down, at first sight. Sidonie Gabrielle Colette jealousy sight firsts No one asked you to be happy. Get to work. Sidonie Gabrielle Colette A kindly gesture bestowed by us on an animal arouses prodigies of understanding and gratitude. Sidonie Gabrielle Colette gratitude understanding animal Truffles must come to the table in their own stock and as you break open this jewel sprung from a poverty-stricken soil, imagine - if you have never visited it - the desolate kingdom where it rules. Sidonie Gabrielle Colette cooking jewels food Never touch a butterfly's wing with your finger. Sidonie Gabrielle Colette butterfly-wings butterfly wings At sixty-three years of age, less a quarter, one still has plans. Sidonie Gabrielle Colette three age years Don't cudgel your brains over my little problems. Sidonie Gabrielle Colette problem brain littles The word 'pure' has never revealed an intelligent meaning to me. I can only use the word to quench an optical thirst for purity in the transparencies that evoke it - in bubbles, in a volume of water, and in the imaginary latitudes entrenched, beyond reach, at the very center of a dense crystal. Sidonie Gabrielle Colette intelligent use water I did not look for her, because I was afraid of dispelling the mystery we attach to people whom we know only casually. Sidonie Gabrielle Colette mystery people looks In its early stages, insomnia is almost an oasis in which those who have to think or suffer darkly take refuge. Sidonie Gabrielle Colette insomnia sleep thinking As for an authentic villain, the real thing, the absolute, the artist, one rarely meets him even once in a lifetime. The ordinary bad hat is always in part a decent fellow. Sidonie Gabrielle Colette hats artist real So now, whenever I despair, I no longer expect my end, but some bit of luck, some commonplace little miracle which, like a glittering link, will mend again the necklace of my days. Sidonie Gabrielle Colette despair miracle luck I love my past. I love my present. I'm not ashamed of what I've had, and I'm not sad because I have it no longer. Sidonie Gabrielle Colette
