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
Religion has done love a great service by making it a sin. – Anatole France
Irony is the gaiety of reflection and the joy of wisdom. – Anatole France
Never lend books, for no one ever returns them. The only books I have in my library are those that other folks have lent me. – Anatole France
If by chance I seated myself to write, she very slyly, very tenderly, seeking protection and caresses, would softly take her place on my knee and follow the comings and goings of my pen -sometimes effacing, with an unintentional stroke of her paw, lines of whose tenor she disapproved. – Pierre Loti