Paul Valery

Paul Valery

17 quotes

Paul Valery, a French poet, essayist, and philosopher, is widely remembered for insights that continue to resonate with readers everywhere. The range of their thinking — from Science to Poetry — speaks to an intellectual restlessness that shows in every quote. Our collection holds 24 quotes from Paul Valery, each offering a different angle on Science, Poetry, History, Future, and Art. One standout: "Politics is the art of preventing people from busying themselves with what is their own business."

“Our judgments judge us, and nothing reveals us, exposes our weaknesses, more ingeniously than the attitude of pronouncing upon our fellows.”

— Paul Valery

Attitude

All Quotes by Paul Valery

“In poetry everything which must be said is almost impossible to say well.”

— Paul Valery

Poetry

“The history of thought may be summed up in these words: it is absurd by what it seeks and great by what it finds.”

— Paul Valery

History

“Our judgments judge us, and nothing reveals us, exposes our weaknesses, more ingeniously than the attitude of pronouncing upon our fellows.”

— Paul Valery

Attitude

“A poem is never finished, only abandoned.”

— Paul Valery

Poetry

“Love is being stupid together.”

— Paul Valery

Love

“Politics is the art of preventing people from busying themselves with what is their own business.”

— Paul Valery

Art

“The folly of mistaking a paradox for a discovery, a metaphor for a proof, a torrent of verbiage for a spring of capital truths, and oneself for an oracle, is inborn in us.”

— Paul Valery

Science

“God created man and, finding him not sufficiently alone, gave him a companion to make him feel his solitude more keenly.”

— Paul Valery

Alone

“War: a massacre of people who don't know each other for the profit of people who know each other but don't massacre each other.”

— Paul Valery

War

“The trouble with our times is that the future is not what it used to be.”

— Paul Valery

Future

“The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.”

— Paul Valery

Best

“History is the science of things which are not repeated.”

— Paul Valery

History

“Science means simply the aggregate of all the recipes that are always successful. All the rest is literature.”

— Paul Valery

Science

“Power without abuse loses its charm.”

— Paul Valery

Power

“An artist never really finishes his work, he merely abandons it.”

— Paul Valery

Art

“The future, like everything else, is not what it used to be.”

— Paul Valery

Future

“God made everything out of nothing, but the nothingness shows through.”

— Paul Valery

God