47 Quotes & Sayings By George Sand

George Sand was born in Paris on June 16, 1804, the daughter of a well known Italian General, Carlo-Maria Giuseppe Sand. Her father died when she was five years old, and she was raised by her mother. She was educated at home by private tutors, and at fourteen she went to Paris to live with an aunt. She married Charles-Valentin Alkan, a well-known poet, in 1831.

There is only one happiness in life, to love and...
1
There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved. George Sand
2
Le vrai est trop simple, il faut y arriver toujours par le compliqué."[ Letter to Armand Barbès, 12 May 1867] George Sand
God abandons only those who abandon themselves, and whoever has...
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God abandons only those who abandon themselves, and whoever has the courage to shut up his sorrow within his own heart is stronger to fight against it than he who complains. George Sand
4
The maid told him that a girl and a child had come looking for him, but since she didn't know them, she hadn't cared to ask them in, and had told them to go on to Mers."Why didn't you let them in?" asked Germain angrily. "People must be very suspicious in this part of the world, if they won't open the front door to a neighbor."" Well, naturally! " replied the maid. "In a house as rich as this, you have to keep a close watch on things. While the master's away I'm responsible for everything, and I can't just open the door to anyone at all."" That's a mean way to live, " said Germain; "I'd rather be poor than live in fear like that. Good-bye to you, miss, and good-bye to this horrible country of yours! . George Sand
5
One is happy as a result of one's own efforts once one knows the necessary ingredients of happiness: simple tastes, a certain degree of courage, self denial to a point, love of work, and above all, a clear conscience. George Sand
6
Nothing is so easy as to deceive one’s self when one does not lack wit and is familiar with all the niceties of language. Language is a prostitute queen who descends and rises to all roles. Disguises herself, arrays herself in fine apparel, hides her head and effaces herself; an advocate who has an answer for everything, who has always foreseen everything, and who assumes a thousand forms in order to be right. The most honorable of men is he who thinks best and acts best, but the most powerful is he who is best able to talk and write. George Sand
J'ai un but, une tâche, disons le mot, une passion....
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J'ai un but, une tâche, disons le mot, une passion. Le métier d'écrire en est une violente et presque indestructible."[ Letter to Jules Boucoiran, 4 March 1831] George Sand
You can bind my body, tie my hands, govern my...
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You can bind my body, tie my hands, govern my actions: you are the strongest, and society adds to your power; but with my will, sir, you can do nothing. George Sand
Immodest creature, you do not want a woman who will...
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Immodest creature, you do not want a woman who will accept your faults, you want the one who pretends you are faultless — one who will caress the hand that strikes her and kiss the lips that lie to George Sand
Nature alone can speak to our intelligence an imperishable language,...
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Nature alone can speak to our intelligence an imperishable language, never changing, because it remains within the bounds of eternal truth and of what is absolutely noble and beautiful. George Sand
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The capacity of passion is both cruel and divine George Sand
12
It is warm, I am alive, I am calm and sad, I hardly know why. In this existence so even, so tranquil, and so gentle as I have here, I am in an element that weakens me morally while strengthening me physically; and I fall into melancholies of honey and roses which are none the less melancholy. It seems to me that all those I love forget me, and that it is justice, because I live a selfish life having nothing to do for any one of them. George Sand
13
Guard well within yourself that treasure, kindness. Know how to give without hesitation, how to lose without regret, how to acquire without meanness. George Sand
14
We cannot tear out a single page of our life, but we can throw the whole book in the fire. George Sand
15
Language is a prostitute queen who descends and rises to all roles. Disguises herself, arrays herself in fine apparel, hides her head and effaces herself; an advocate who has an answer for everything, who has always foreseen everything, and who assumes a thousand forms in order to be right. The most honorable of men is he who thinks best and acts best, but the most powerful is he who is best able to talk and write” Language is a prostitute queen who descends and rises to all roles. Disguises herself, arrays herself in fine apparel, hides her head and effaces herself; an advocate who has an answer for everything, who has always foreseen everything, and who assumes a thousand forms in order to be right. The most honorable of men is he who thinks best and acts best, but the most powerful is he who is best able to talk and write . George Sand
16
[I]t is that we are too apt to despise what appears to be neither good nor beautiful, and thus we lose what is helpful and salutary. George Sand
17
Let us leave political questions to be decided by the powers concerned, " Sir Ralph would say, "as we have adopted a form of government which forbids us to discuss our interests ourselves. If a nation is responsible for the faults of its legislature, what one can you find that is guiltier than yours? George Sand
18
It is a mistake to regard age as a downhill grade toward dissolution. Thereverse is true. As one grows older, one climbs with surprising strides. George Sand
19
When mental [illness] increases until it reaches the danger point, do not exhaust yourself by efforts to trace back to original causes. Better accept them as inevitable and save your strength to fight against the effects. George Sand
20
I'm beginning to believe that there are angels disguised as men who pass themselves off as such and who inhabit the earth for a while to console and lift up with them toward heaven the poor, exhausted and saddened souls who were ready to perish here below. George Sand
21
No place is ugly to those who understand the virtues and sweetness of everything that God has made. George Sand
22
Nothing resembles selfishness more closely than self-respect George Sand
23
I love everything that makes up a milieu, the rolling of the carriages and the noise of the workmen in Paris, the cries of a thousand birds in the country, the movement of the ships on the waters. I love also absolute, profound silence, and, in short, I love everything that is around me, no matter where I am. George Sand
24
Charity degrades those who receive it and hardens those who dispense it. George Sand
25
The old woman I shall become will be quite different from the woman I am now. Another I is beginning. George Sand
26
Faith is an excitement and an enthusiasm a state of intellectual magnificence which we must not squander on our way through life. George Sand
27
There is only one happiness in life to love and be loved. George Sand
28
One is happy as a result of one's own efforts-once one knows the necessary ingredients of happiness-simple tastes a certain degree of courage self-denial to a point love of work and above all a clear conscience. George Sand
29
Happiness lies in the consciousness we have of it. George Sand
30
Guard within yourself that treasure kindness. Know how to give without hesitation how to lose without regret how to acquire without meanness know how to replace in your heart by the happiness of those you love the happiness that may be wanting to yourself. George Sand
31
There is only one happiness in life: to love and be loved. George Sand
32
Life in common among people who love each other is the ideal of happiness. George Sand
33
Let us accept truth even when it surprises us and alters our views. George Sand
34
It is quite wrong to think of old age as a downward slope. On the contrary one climbs higher and higher with the advancing years and that too with surprising strides. George Sand
35
Vanity is the quicksand of reason. George Sand
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Work is not man's punishment. It is his reward and his strength his glory and his pleasure. George Sand
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No human creature can give orders to love. George Sand
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Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved. George Sand
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Work is not man's punishment. It is his reward and his strength and his pleasure. George Sand
40
Try to keep your soul young and quivering right up to old age. George Sand
41
Women love always: when earth slips from them, they take refuge in heaven. George Sand
42
Simplicity is the most difficult thing to secure in this world it is the last limit of experience and the last effort of genius. George Sand
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Faith is an excitement and an enthusiasm: it is a condition of intellectual magnificence to which we must cling as to a treasure, and not squander on our way through life in the small coin of empty words, or in exact and priggish argument. George Sand
44
The beauty that addresses itself to the eyes is only the spell of the moment the eye of the body is not always that of the soul. George Sand
45
The artist vocation is to send light into the human heart. George Sand
46
He who draws noble delights from sentiments of poetry is a true poet, though he has never written a line in all his life. George Sand