Marguerite Yourcenar
Born: 06-08-1903
Marguerite Yourcenar was a pioneering Belgian-born French writer, recognized as the first woman elected to the Académie Française. Renowned for her historical novels, essays, and memoirs, her most celebrated work, "Memoirs of Hadrian," showcases her mastery of narrative and historical depth. An erudite scholar and translator, Yourcenar's literary contributions are marked by profound insight into human nature and history, cementing her legacy as a luminary in 20th-century literature.
Book summaries for books written by Marguerite Yourcenar
Quotes
I have always been of the opinion that genuine piety is not compatible with any kind of excess, and I cannot admire the structure of a society in which luxury and poverty live side by side.
A conflict between the will to deny horrible events and the will to proclaim them aloud is the central dialectic of historical writing.
It was the city of Hadrian, not Hadrian of the city.
All instruction is but a finger pointing to the moon; and those whose gaze is fixed upon the pointer will never see beyond.
Every intelligent being, whether his intelligence makes him famous or keeps him a secret prisoner, carries a god within himself.
To know the lives of other persons intimately, to control their existence by your own will: does that not make you like a god?
I have always admired the ability to bite into life with gusto.
It seems that for success in science and art, a dash of autism is essential.
The old man and the child have need of the same enchantment.
Solitude is indeed dangerous for a working intelligence. We need to have around us men who think and speak. When we are alone for a long time, we people the void with phantoms.
In literature, as in life, I have always been drawn to those moments when the iron gates of the self open, revealing what lies hidden behind them.
A civilization, it is said, is judged by the way it treats its most disadvantaged members.