What is an aristocrat? A woman who is never sullied by vulgarity, although she may be surrounded by it. Muriel Barbery More Quotes by Muriel Barbery More Quotes From Muriel Barbery When tea becomes ritual, it takes place at the heart of our ability to see greatness in small things. Muriel Barbery greatness heart tea Yes, our eyes may perceive, yet they do not observe; they may believe, yet they do not question; they may receive yet they do not search: they are emptied of desire, with neither hunger nor passion. Muriel Barbery passion eye believe Art is emotion without desire. Muriel Barbery emotion desire art We never look beyond our assumptions and what's worse, we have given up trying to meet others; we just meet ourselves. Muriel Barbery assumption trying looks I am going to die, but that is of no importance. Muriel Barbery importance dies Personally I think that grammar is a way to attain Beauty. When you speak, or read, or write, you can tell if you've spoken or read or written a fine sentence. You can recognise a well-tuned phrase or an elegant style. But when you are applying the rules of grammar skilfully, you ascend to another level of the beauty of language. When you use grammar you peel back the layers, to see how it is all put together, to see it quite naked, in a way. Muriel Barbery style writing thinking When something is bothering me, I seek refuge. No need to travel far; a trip to the realm of literary memory will suffice. For where can one find more noble distraction, more entertaining company, more delightful enchantment than in literature? Muriel Barbery enchantment memories needs Beautiful things should belong to beautiful souls. Muriel Barbery soul should beautiful I may be indigent in name, position, and in appearance, but in my own mind I am an unrivaled goddess - Muriel Barbery names mind may As a child I often wondered whether I would be allowed to live such moments- to inhabit the slow, majestic ballet of the snowflakes, to be released at last from the dreary frenzy of time. Is that what it feels to be naked? All one's clothes are gone, yet one's mind is overladen with finery. Muriel Barbery clothes ballet children 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 for those moments of always within never. Beauty, in this world. Muriel Barbery suicide worry world Poverty is a reaper: it harvests everything inside us that might have made us capable of social intercourse with others, and leaves us empty, purged of feeling, so that we may endure all the darkness of the present day. Muriel Barbery compassion darkness feelings Most people, when they move, well they just move depending on whatever's around them. At this very moment, as I am writing, Constitution the cat is going by with her tummy dragging close to the floor. This cat has absolutely nothing constructive to do in life and still she is heading toward something, probably an armchair. Muriel Barbery cat writing moving I may know that the world is an ugly place, I still don't want to see it. Muriel Barbery ugly want may But the world, in its present state, is no place for princesses. Muriel Barbery princess states world They didn't recognize me," I repeat. He stops in turn, my hand still on his arm. "It is because they have never seen you," he says. "I would recognize you anywhere. Muriel Barbery turns arms hands Beauty consists of its own passing, just as we reach for it. It’s the ephemeral configuration of things in the moment, when you see both their beauty and their death. ...Does this mean that this is how we must live our lives? Constantly poised between beauty and death, between movement and its disappearance? Maybe that’s what being alive is all about: so we can track down those moments that are dying. Muriel Barbery track dying mean ..when I say that "he's a truly nasty man," I mean he has so thoroughly renounced everything good that he might have inside him that he's already like a corpse even though he's still alive. Because truly nasty people hate everyone, to be sure, but most of all themselves. Can't you tell when a person hates himself? He becomes a living cadaver, it numbs all his negative emotions but also all the good ones so he won't feel nauseated by who he is. Muriel Barbery hate men mean We musn't forget old people with their rotten bodies, old people who are so close to death, something that young people don't want to think about. We musn't forget that our bodies decline, friends die, everyone forgets about us, and the end is solitude. Nor must we forget that these old people were young once, that a lifespan is pathetically short, that one day you're twenty and the next day you're eighty. Muriel Barbery next-day people thinking So if there is something on the planet that is worth living for, I'd better not miss it, because once you're dead, it's too late for regrets, and if you die by mistake, that is really, really dumb. Muriel Barbery regret missing mistake
