It is horrible to see everything that one detested in the past coming back wearing the colors of the future.
Jean RostandWe find it easy to believe that praise is sincere: why should anyone lie in telling us the truth?
Jean RostandStupidity, outrage, vanity, cruelty, iniquity, bad faith, falsehood - we fail to see the whole array when it is facing in the same direction as we.
Jean RostandFalsity cannot keep an idea from being beautiful; there are certain errors of such ingenuity that one could regret their not ranking among the achievements of the human mind.
Jean RostandIn order to remain true to oneself one ought to renounce one's party three times a day.
Jean RostandScience had better not free the minds of men too much, before it has tamed their instincts.
Jean RostandIt is sometimes important for science to know how to forget the things she is surest of.
Jean RostandRenown? I've already got more of it than those I respect, and will never have as much as those for whom I feel contempt.
Jean RostandWhether man is disposed to yield to nature or to oppose her, he cannot do without a correct understanding of her language
Jean RostandI don't judge a regime by the damning criticism of the opposition, but by the ingenuous praise of the partisan.
Jean RostandSomebody told me I should put a pebble in my mouth to cure my stuttering. Well, I tried it, and during a scene I swallowed the pebble. That was the end of that.
Jean RostandKill one man, and you are a murderer. Kill millions of men, and you are a conqueror. Kill them all, and you are a god.
Jean RostandLiterature: proclaiming in front of everyone what one is careful to conceal from one's immediate circle
Jean RostandWhat scientist would not long to go on living, if only to see how the little truths he has brought to light will grow up?
Jean RostandMy pessimism extends to the point of even suspecting the sincerity of other pessimists.
Jean RostandA few great minds are enough to endow humanity with monstrous power, but a few great hearts are not enough to make us worthy of using it.
Jean RostandWhen a scientist is ahead of his times, it is often through misunderstanding of current, rather than intuition of future truth. In science there is never any error so gross that it won't one day, from some perspective, appear prophetic.
Jean RostandWhat makes our opponents useful is that they allow us to believe that without them we would be able to realize our goals.
Jean RostandWe bestow on others praise in which we do not believe, on condition that in return they bestow upon us praise in which we do.
Jean RostandA married couple are well suited when both partners usually feel the need for a quarrel at the same time.
Jean RostandNever feel remorse for what you have thought about your wife; she has thought much worse things about you.
Jean Rostand