Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Jules Renard

The French writer Jules Renard (died 1910) wrote, “Writing is the only profession where no one considers you ridiculous if you earn no money.”

Sounds nice, but I’m not so sure it’s true. Maybe in 1910. I suspect people find it easier to think I am really working when I tell them I manage a museum shop. When I say I write, they probably think I am just unemployed but don't want to admit it. In my own head, though, I am a writer. I happen to manage a museum shop at the moment.

Anyway, here are some quotes from Renard's writings.
It is not how old you are but how you are old.
Look for the ridiculous in everything, and you will find it.
If money does not make you happy; give it back.
We don't understand life any better at forty than at twenty, but we know it and admit it.
Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired.
The only man who is really free is the one who can turn down an invitation to dinner without giving an excuse.
As I grow to understand life less and less, I learn to love it more and more.
If I were to begin life again, I should want it as it was. I would only open my eyes a little more.

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