Georges Bernanos's Quotes

Little things seem nothing, but they give peace, like those meadow flowers which individually seem odorless but all together perfume the air.

The first sign of corruption in a society that is still alive is that the end justifies the means.

It's a fine thing to rise above pride, but you must have pride in order to do so.

No one ever discovers the depths of his own loneliness.

A poor man with nothing in his belly needs hope, illusion, more than bread.

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.

Civilization exists precisely so that there may be no masses but rather men alert enough never to constitute masses.

The wish to pray is a prayer in itself. God can ask no more than that of us.

Truth is meant to save you first, and the comfort comes afterward.

Who are you to condemn another's sin? He who condemns sin becomes part of it, espouses it.

Hell, madam, is to love no longer.

Hope is a risk that must be run.

It is the perpetual dread of fear, the fear of fear, that shapes the face of a brave man.

Faith is not a thing which one 'loses,' we merely cease to shape our lives by it.

The modern state no longer has anything but rights; it does not recognize duties any more.

Purity is not imposed upon us as though it were a kind of punishment, it is one of those mysterious but obvious conditions of that supernatural knowledge of ourselves in the Divine, which we speak of as faith. Impurity does not destroy this knowledge, it slays our need for it.

What does the truth matter? Haven't we mothers all given our sons a taste for lies, lies which from the cradle upwards lull them, reassure them, send them to sleep: lies as soft and warm as a breast!