The duty of literature is to note what counts, and to light up what is suited to the light. If it ceases to choose and to love, it becomes like a woman who gives herself without preference. – Anatole France
It is well for the heart to be naive and the mind not to be. – Anatole France
You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working in just the same way, you learn to love by loving. – Anatole France
The extent of a palace is measured from east to west, or from north to south; but that of a literary work, from the earth to heaven; so that there may be found as much range and power of mind in a few pages… as in a whole epic poem. – Joseph Joubert (1754–1824), translated from French by George H. Calvert, 1