Quotes by Jules Renard

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All people have seen almost the same things, but only the artist knows how to rewrite them in his memory.

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Truth is not always art. Art does not always mean truth, but truth and art have points of contact: I look for them.

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Every work of ours must be a crisis, almost a revolution.

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We should not say that we are re-reading the masterpieces, because it always seems to us that we have never read them.

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Perhaps the inspiration is nothing but the joy of writing; it does not precede it.

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It is painful to write a book: it means to free yourself from it.

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Strange job and literature: the less you do, the better you have to do it.

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Nature is not definitive; something can always be added to it.

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A classic is a writer who watches over tradition.

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In Literature, truth is distinguished from untruth just as natural flowers are distinguished from artificial ones; through a kind of inimitable smell.

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My literature is something like letters to myself which I would allow you to read.

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The scientist generalizes, the artist individualizes.

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Glory is an endless effort.

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Our selfishness goes so far that we think, when there is a storm, it only thunders for us.

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When we see that others are selfish, we are amazed: as if we alone have the right to be, and the ardor to live.

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Compliments are placed like money is placed: to be returned to us with interest.

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It is a sign of nobility when admiration outlasts friendship.

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The fact that the truth scandalizes is undoubtedly one of its charms.

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The truth is worth spending a few years without finding.