Jean Rostand Quotes

Already at the origin of the species man was equal to what he was destined to become.

We are not naïve enough to ask for pure men; we ask merely for men whose impurity does not conflict with the obligations of their job.

It may offend us to hear our own thoughts expressed by others: we are not sure enough of their souls.

Certain brief sentences are peerless in their ability to give one the feeling that nothing remains to be said.

I still understand a few words in life, but I no longer think they make a sentence.

A married couple are well suited when both partners usually feel the need for a quarrel at the same time.

I don't judge a regime by the damning criticism of the opposition, but by the ingenuous praise of the partisan.

Far too often the choices reality proposes are such as to take away one's taste for choosing.

Science had better not free the minds of men too much, before it has tamed their instincts.

What makes our opponents useful is that they allow us to believe that without them we would be able to realize our goals.

It is sometimes important for science to know how to forget the things she is surest of.

Marriage simplifies life and complicates the day.

It is horrible to see everything that one detested in the past coming back wearing the colors of the future.

In our ideals we unwittingly reveal our vices.

Nothing leads the scientist so astray as a premature truth.

Le biologiste passe, la grenouille reste. The biologist passes, the frog remains.

There are some persons we could not cut down to size without diminishing ourselves as well.

There are moments when very little truth would be enough to shape opinion. One might be hated at extremely low cost.

To live is often to struggle toward goals one has no desire to reach.

The biologist passes. The frog stays the same.

The books one has written in the past have two surprises in store: one couldn't write them again, and wouldn't want to.

There are certain moments when we might wish the future were built by men of the past.

There are things that don't deserve to be said briefly.

There are big and little truths, but all belong to the same race.

We bestow on others praise in which we do not believe, on condition that in return they bestow upon us praise in which we do.

What scientist would not long to go on living, if only to see how the little truths he has brought to light will grow up?

God, that checkroom of our dreams.

Whether man is disposed to yield to nature or to oppose her, he cannot do without a correct understanding of her language

Quotations--always inexact. I don't trust people who cannot even copy out.

Literature: proclaiming in front of everyone what one is careful to conceal from one's immediate circle

Never feel remorse for what you have thought about your wife she has thought much worse things about you.

My pessimism goes to the point of suspecting the sincerity of the pessimists.

To be adult is to be alone (etre adulte c'est etre seul).

God that dumping ground of our dreams.