“ It is not by blood, anyhow, that man's true continuity is established: Alexander's direct heir is Caesar, and not the frail infant born of a Persian princess in an Asiatic citadel; Epaminondas, dying… Marguerite Yourcenar
“ Of all our games, love's play is the only one which threatens to unsettle the soul, and is also the only one in which the player has to abandon himself to the body's ecstasy. Marguerite Yourcenar
“ Attianus had been right in his conjectures: the virgin gold of respect would be too soft without some alloy of fear. Marguerite Yourcenar
“ Leaving behind books is even more beautiful — there are far too many children. Marguerite Yourcenar
“ The true birthplace is that wherein for the first time one looks intelligently upon oneself; my first homelands have been books, and to a lesser degree schools. Marguerite Yourcenar
“ I was glad that our venerable, almost formless religions, drained of all intransigence and purged of savage rites, linked us mysteriously to the most ancient secrets of man and of earth, not forbiddin… Marguerite Yourcenar
“ Happiness is a masterpiece: the slightest error compromises it, the slightest hesitation undermines it, the slightest excess corrupts it, the slightest vulgarity defiles it. Marguerite Yourcenar
“ Le souvenir n'est qu'un regard posé de temps en temps sur des êtres devenus intérieurs,mais qui ne dépendent pas de la mémoire pour continuer d'exister. Marguerite Yourcenar
“ Tout bonheur est un chef-d'oeuvre: la moindre erreur le fausse, la moindre hésitation l'altère, la moindre lourder le dépare, la moindre sottise l'abêtit. Marguerite Yourcenar
“ Of all our games, love's play is the only one which threatens to unsettle the soul... Marguerite Yourcenar
