Do you agree with the phrase “You should not be guided by public opinion. This is not a lighthouse, but wandering lights? Phrases by Andre Morois

André Maurois is a master of subtle psychological novels and short stories, the author of the famous novelized biographies of Dumas, Balzac, Victor Hugo and many other talented personalities. André Maurois is the pseudonym that later became the official name of the writer, whose name was Emil Salomon Wilhelm Erzog. We have collected for you 30 quotes from this wonderful author:

• Don't rely on public opinion. This is not a lighthouse, but wandering lights.
• At the birth of love, lovers talk about the future, at its decline - about the past.
• We are only natural with those we love.
• Each person has at least ten opportunities to change his life during the day. Success comes to those who know how to use them.
• We love the sincerity of those who love us. The sincerity of others is called insolence.
• The only thing experience teaches us is that experience teaches us nothing.
• A marriage of convenience only turns out to be a blessing if there is hope of turning it into a marriage of love. Otherwise, this is a marriage not of reason, but of recklessness.
• Without a family, a person is alone in the world and shivering from the cold.
• Schoolmates are better educators than parents, because they are ruthless.
• A happy marriage is a long conversation that always seems too short.

• Whoever is not a revolutionary at 16, at 30 will not have the courage to be the head of the fire brigade.
• We don't care how much something costs, as long as it costs us nothing.
• The relationship between parents and children is just as difficult and just as dramatic as the relationship between lovers.
• The art of aging is to be a support for the young, not an obstacle, a teacher, not a rival, understanding, not indifferent.
• Love begins with great feelings and ends with small fights.
• There is only one way to become a cultured person - reading.
• Old age does not forget its tender experience and loves to give good advice, as it can no longer set bad examples.
• There is no enemy more cruel than a former friend.
• A careless word - and the child grows up, deceived love - and a person becomes hardened.
• Many women have made a brilliant career, knowing only how to listen, and besides, it is not necessary to listen: it is enough to pretend.

• Do a small thing, but master it to perfection and treat it like a great thing.
• Watching a couple sitting at a restaurant table, you can judge by the length of the pauses in their conversation how long they have been living together.
• A night with a woman is, of course, the whole night, but not the whole woman.
• People love to hear about themselves so much that they are willing to spend hours discussing their own shortcomings.
• Make gifts a little more expensive than you can afford.
• Everything you do will come back to you.
• In literature - as in love: we are surprised by someone else's choice.
• A woman who offers herself, takes the first steps, arouses the contempt of a man, and not his love.
• The imperfection of life requires cold hearts.
• Death turns life into destiny.

The famous French writer, who went through two world wars, a member of the French Resistance, a member of the French Academy, lived to be 82 years old. His rich life experience is a serious reason to pay attention to his statements about life, love, women, morality.

A a personal desire for money or success almost always gets people into trouble. Why? Because in such a life people have to depend on things external to themselves.

B facelessness, similarity, equanimity" - this is the triune motto of a world where there is no love.

B wear is a combination of war and sport.

B ogy dead? I think they just changed.

B Cancer without love is legalized prostitution.

B To be the confidant of happiness is the destiny and virtue of the few.

IN lots of shades of white. Happiness, like spring, changes its appearance every time.

IN In conversations with each other, women imitate the spirit of comradely solidarity and that confidential frankness that they do not allow themselves with men. But behind this semblance of friendship - how much vigilant distrust, and how it is, to be honest, justified.

IN love and literature, we are attracted to what others choose.

IN youth do not know how to conceal their feelings.

IN At the beginning of love, lovers talk about the future. In the end, they talk about the past.

IN The great strength of women is in their absence.

IN A good idea, if repeated too often, loses its power.

IN fidelity is not opposed to human nature in general, but only to the animal nature that lives in man. The one who is able to overcome the power of instinct, to remain faithful to the obligation taken on, to turn love into friendship, finds happiness in the union of souls, hearts and bodies, which more than rewards him for his sacrifice.

Sublime love requires leisure.

IN exalted feelings, craving for romantic love - a legacy of past centuries - also lost their former power. Why? Firstly, because a woman, having achieved equality, ceased to be an inaccessible, mysterious deity for a man, but became a comrade; secondly, because young girls now know a lot about the physical side of love and look at love and marriage more truly and sensibly.

IN the imagination of the writer is born from a real feeling.

IN time is the most honest critic.

IN whatever suits our desires seems right. Anything that contradicts them infuriates us.

IN You ask me how novels are made? Madam, if I had known, I would not have written them.

IN a statement is absurd if it contradicts reason. A law is absurd if it offends common sense. But the assertion that everything around is absurd is absurd. The world is what it is. He does not obey the arguments of reason, nor common sense. The world is a starting point, a given. How else? It is difficult to imagine that the world was created solely to satisfy our needs. It would be a miracle of miracles. The world is neutral. It is neither friendly nor hostile to man.

D gadflies, stated in a sharp tone, infuriate the interlocutor. Especially when the truth is on your side.

D Another, quite worthy way to please is to speak flatteringly about people. If this is told to them, it will give them pleasure and they will feel good for you in return. The reverse is also true. One caustic phrase, moreover, retold unkindly, gives rise to the worst enemies.

E the only thing experience teaches us is that experience teaches us nothing.

E If you dig a little, you can find low motives that underlie even the most laudable deeds; so even in the purest air the chemist finds traces of unbreathable gas. It's all about proportions.

AND desire is born from the unexpected contact of two bodies, confidence from the unexpected contact of two receptive natures; and just as the first is not enough for love to arise, so the second is not enough for intimacy to arise.

AND a woman who is aggressive and dissatisfied with everything quickly bothers a man; but not an undemanding woman, ingenuously admiring everything, will not retain her power over him for long. Contradiction? Of course.

AND A woman without breasts is like a bed without a pillow.

AND A woman can be a person or a thing. She is a person if she does not depend on the person she loves, if she is the mistress of her judgments and plans, her body and thoughts. She is a thing if she allows herself to be treated as a thing, perhaps beautiful and precious, but not having a will of her own, subject to the desires and whims of the owner - something like a pleasant meal that satisfies hunger.

AND A woman does not want to be talked about her love affairs, but she wants everyone to know that she is loved.

AND life is a masquerade. Should I always wear the same mask? It depends on the mask - and on you. If the mask does not suit you, if it bothers you, if it seems to you that it forces you to play a role for which you were not created, try to replace it with another one. There are many of them. Here is an important mask of a promising politician; here is the mask of the artist, which is best suited for a bright cowboy shirt with an unbuttoned collar; and here is the mask of the future physician with a penetrating look from under the glasses. There is still time to choose. But be careful! The mask itself will rule the ball. Other masks will take you for who you appear to be. Going to the ball of life, choose a suitable mask for yourself.

AND life is constant change. As soon as the movement stops, the person grows old and dies.

AND Life is short, that's understandable; but compared to what?

W Avist moderates his fury, only having enjoyed his meanness to the fullest.

W The dark ball was created for a purpose unknown to us by God, who, apparently, does not care about our suffering.

AND The art of aging is to be a support for the young, not an obstacle, a teacher, not a rival, understanding, not indifferent.

TO every person has at least ten opportunities to change his life during the day. Success comes to those who know how to use them.

TO Everyone is convinced that others are wrong when they judge him, and that he is not wrong when he judges others.

TO When there is no opposition, equilibrium is impossible.

TO at the age of 16 he is not a revolutionary, at the age of 30 he does not have the courage to be the head of the fire brigade.

L Fire often stems from indifference rather than pretense.

L to jubilate is to experience excitement at the thought of some possibility, which then develops into a need, an insistent desire, an obsession.

L love - filial, conjugal or born of friendship - breaks the shackles of loneliness.

L love finds joy in any trifle if it is shared with you by a loved one.

L people are very sensitive to how they are treated; the slightest criticism hurts them, especially if it hits a sore spot.

L People love to hear about themselves so much that they spend hours discussing their own shortcomings.

L People have the hardest time forgiving us the bad things they said about us.

M there are no big betrayals.

M You can love good wine, but why constantly rinse your mouth with it.

M oral values ​​are not a nonsensical portrayal of decrepit moralists. That is why they are called values ​​because neither the further development of society nor a happy life is possible without them.

M men bare their souls, as women bare their bodies, gradually and only after a stubborn struggle.

M We almost always spread malicious slander about ourselves when we seek to refute it before those who have never heard of it.

H watching a couple sitting at a restaurant table, the length of the pauses in their conversation can be judged on how long they have been living together.

H Peoples, like individuals, go too far in their demands and encroach on something until they meet with a rebuff. The system of forces is in equilibrium as long as the action is equal to the reaction. When there is no opposition, equilibrium is impossible.

H By beginning a conversation by giving a detailed presentation of your opponent's point of view, you are pulling the ground out from under his feet.

H Don't be afraid to be incomprehensible. Women will say: "This is the young man who has beautiful eyes and who was talking about Einstein."

H Do not forget that there is something greater in you than yourself; do not forget that this greatness is inherent in every person.

H You should be guided by public opinion. This is not a lighthouse, but wandering lights.

H it's not enough to be smart. You have to be smart enough not to let yourself get too smart.

H one cannot say that young men and women do not at all strive for love; but they are looking for her in a solid marriage. They are wary of marriage for passionate love, because they know that passion is short-lived.

H there is no more cruel enemy than the former friend. To justify in his own eyes a bad deed, he gladly denigrates the one he betrays.

H and one person is not able to live for weeks, and even more so for years, in an atmosphere of tender passion. Everything is tiring, even the fact that you are loved ...

H and one should never regret that a person is overwhelmed by passions. It's the same as if we began to regret that he is human.

H nothing belongs to us, only our time.

H Nothing binds like jealousy.

H and nothing forms the taste and fidelity of judgments so much as the habit of writing out a passage you like or marking a deep thought.

H you should make it a rule never to spread someone else's slander until you check how fair it is. True, then you will have to shut up forever.

H The current world is not easy, life requires full dedication from both men and women, and therefore, more and more, marriage, sealed by friendship, mutual attraction and emotional affection, seems to French women the best solution to love.

ABOUT Friends you just dined with shouldn't say nasty things within a 100 meter radius of their house.

ABOUT playfulness is ease of feeling, just as grace is ease of movement, and wit is ease of mind.

ABOUT the relationship between parents and children is just as difficult and just as dramatic as the relationship between lovers.

P Arodia is a highly sophisticated form of criticism.

P reverence almost always ends in an insult to the one who was revered.

P cutting money is easy for a rich person or one who is deprived of needs.

P The problem is not to have money for black caviar, but to find a taste in it.

P It is much easier to raise or refuse over the phone. When you do not see the face of the interlocutor, the imagination loses its support.

R indifference to politics is also one of the forms of political activity.

R The various gods worshiped by the peoples throughout the millennia of human history were the embodiment of the passions and needs of believers. This does not mean that religions were useless; that means they were necessary. But their task is not to know the world.

WITH the generality of slander undermines its power in many ways. If the accusations are false, they will quickly be forgotten, and a person of character will be able to properly present himself. If they are true, this will not change anything either: he will be received with the same cordiality, and even his friends will not turn away from him.

WITH The most amazing memory is the memory of a woman in love.

WITH The most difficult thing in a dispute is not so much to defend one's point of view as to have a clear idea about it.

WITH Today there is more depravity in the pages of novels than in life.

WITH death makes us forget the weaknesses of those who are gone forever, leaving us only belated regrets.

WITH death turns life into destiny.

WITH advice is always a confession.

WITH old age begins on the day when courage dies.

WITH The old man does not forget his tender experience and loves to give good advice, since he can no longer show bad examples.

WITH a happy marriage is a long conversation that always seems too short.

WITH part - moment, habit - eternity.

WITH part only where there is naturalness.

T so many representatives of the human race are created that they easily get used to being loved and do not value too much a feeling in which they are too sure.

T telephone conversation is halfway between art and life. This is not a conversation with a person, but with the image that develops in you when you listen to him.

T comrades bring up much better than their parents, because they are not characterized by pity.

T hard to come up with ideas and easy to come up with phrases; this explains the success of the philosophers.

At country marriage is a building that needs to be reconstructed every time.

At the dacha union of two is closer today than ever, for it is at the same time a union of flesh, soul and intellect.

At the stake is painful, but healing. Jealousy is painful, but it strengthens the feeling.

At Allpol said about Marshal de Richelieu: "People laugh, not yet knowing what he will say, and they do it right, because then they will certainly not laugh." A wit that applies to most professional wits.

At the force you exert to make up for the tactlessness you have committed with your interlocutor is much more painful for him than the tactlessness itself.

At a hasty marriage is a building that needs to be rebuilt daily.

X artist is a liar, but art is true.

C Kingdoms, empires rise and fall like waves.

H Humanity generally changes much less than people think. It is like the sea: on the surface it seethes, worries, but it is worth plunging into the abyss of human souls - and there is the immutability of the most important human feelings.

H In order not to blurt out secrets, a strong character is needed.

H in order to please others, one must talk to them about what pleases them and what interests them, refrain from arguing about unimportant subjects, rarely ask questions and in no case let them suspect that it is possible to be more reasonable.

I I saw with my own eyes how wealth ruined the talent of more than one musician and artist. This fate can be avoided only by those who, having become rich, continue to work in the same way as in times of poverty.

André Maurois is a French writer and member of the Académie française. He came from a wealthy family of Jews who converted to Catholicism from Alsace, who after 1871 chose French citizenship and moved to Normandy. A master of the genre of a novelized biography and a short ironic psychological story. Among the main works of Morois are the psychological novels The Vicissitudes of Love, The Family Circle (1932), the book Memoirs, and Letters to a Stranger, which embodied all the charm of the writer's subtle, ironic talent.

Forgiveness must be silent - otherwise what kind of forgiveness is it.

When success comes to us, one can only be surprised at the number of people who suddenly turn out to be our friends.

We are only natural with those we love.

There is nothing more beautiful in the world than a marriage in which everything is in common: love, spiritual interests, victories and defeats - in a word, and deeds, and feelings.

Nothing infuriates a man like the aggressiveness of a woman.

To love the good people around me, to avoid the bad ones, to rejoice in the good, to endure evil with dignity, to be able to forget - that is my optimism.

Loving a woman means thinking not about what you get from her, but about what you give to her.

A happy marriage is a long conversation that always seems too short.

If you want to really get to know the city, you have to walk.

The most striking memory is the memory of a woman in love.

Blessed are the tender and meek women, they will be loved more.

Cynicism is dangerous primarily because it elevates malice into virtue.

You need to have remarkable willpower in order to maintain qualities in yourself that are not valued in the environment.

Make gifts a little more expensive than you can afford.

All your life you will meet people about whom you will say with surprise: “Why did he dislike me? I didn't do anything to him."
Wrong! You have inflicted on him the gravest insult: you are a living negation of his nature...

People tend to despise what comes into their hands,and cling to what slips away.

There are no petty betrayals.

In the absence of love itself, women want to feel its aromas, hear its echoes, see its reflection.

"Happiness is not in conquering a woman's body, but in becoming her chosen one."

Life is too short to afford not to take it seriously.

(353 words) Some people are accustomed to living by the principle of "what others say." Unfortunately, many are so worried about public opinion that they are even able to sacrifice the embodiment of their dreams, just not to stand out from the gray mass. This desire is understandable, because it is hard to turn onto an unknown path under the contemptuous gaze of others. However, it is still necessary to live independently, since society is not constant in its priorities and can lead its blind imitator to where he finally loses himself. Therefore, the French writer Andre Maurois argues that you should not be guided by public opinion, because this is not a lighthouse, but wandering lights.

I will give examples to prove it. The protagonist of Griboedov's comedy "Woe from Wit" Alexander Andreevich Chatsky is faced with representatives of the greedy and hypocritical society of Moscow nobles. He adheres to advanced views and tries to introduce others to his worldview, but Sophia instantly spreads a rumor about the madness of the guest, and he leaves the secular circle in sadness. Not surprising, because Chatsky is the only character who does not succumb to public opinion, and does the right thing. The example of the old woman Khlestova shows who and how manages public opinion: she praises those who grab her dog. Only the Molchalins achieve recognition, because they behave like a weather vane. For example, the same Famusov, the owner of the house, worries only about “what Princess Marya Alekseevna will say!”. The reader can give credit to Chatsky for remaining true to his ideals, which remain for him a kind of beacon.

Alas, most people adjust to someone else's opinion, which is portrayed by the great playwright Anton Pavlovich Chekhov in the story "Chameleon". Police warden Ochumelov constantly changes his attitude towards the bite of a greyhound puppy that scratched Khryukin. Ochumelov's opinion depended on reports whether the dog belonged to the general. In a laconic story, we can consider not only the topic of servility, but also the inability of the hero to think independently and express his point of view, not focusing on the opinions of others. It is the wandering lights that make it "change color".

Often public opinion keeps people locked up and forces them to change themselves for the sake of a momentary fashion or trend. Of course, you need to take into account these lights, but you should not confuse them with a lighthouse at all. You must be clearly aware that your position will not always coincide with the worldview of others, but this is not a reason to turn away from your own views, especially if they were built for a long time, like a beacon, and do not shine for an instant, like a spark.

André Maurois, (1885–1967), French writer

Thanks to Wilde, the English know how to turn paradoxes into platitudes.

The rudder can only work if the boat is moving.

There are many shades of white. Happiness, like spring, changes its appearance every time.

In conversations with each other, women imitate the spirit of comradely solidarity and that confidential frankness that they do not allow themselves with men. But behind this semblance of friendship - how much vigilant distrust, and how justified it is, to confess!

In Balzac's time, a husband in love with his wife was considered ridiculous. Today there is more depravity in the pages of novels than in life.

Any confession strives to be harmonious and coherent, and this spoils it. Man is more complex than the logic of his thinking.

Newspapers, in their wisdom, invite readers to solve crossword puzzles, just as the church, in its infinite foresight, ordered believers to sort out the rosary. Both are excellent medicine, with the help of which a person gets rid of obsessive thoughts, heavy thoughts and reflection - the worst of tortures.

If a person suddenly begins to say everything that he thinks, they will not believe him. And they will be right. What kind of person is he who says whatever he thinks.

“What is the name of such a marriage union, when a man is content with one woman?” a certain examiner asked an American student. "Monotonous," she replied.

Whoever is not a revolutionary at sixteen will not have the courage at thirty to be chief of the fire brigade.

Lies often stem from indifference than from pretense.

Love begins with great feelings and ends with small fights.

We love the sincerity of those who love us. The sincerity of others is called insolence.

Watching a couple sitting at a restaurant table, you can judge by the length of the pauses in their conversation how long they have been living together.

Starting a conversation by giving a detailed presentation of your opponent's point of view, you thereby knock the ground out from under his feet.

Don't be afraid to be incomprehensible. Women will say: "This is the young man who has beautiful eyes and who talked about Einstein."

It is not true that we love a woman for what she says; we love what she says because we love her.

It is necessary to make it a rule for yourself never to spread someone else's slander until you check how fair it is. True, then you will have to shut up forever.

You should not say nasty things about friends with whom you just dined within a radius of one hundred meters from their house.

Charm is a mixture of naturalness and coquetry.

Parody is a highly sophisticated form of criticism.

The pretext should not be convincing, otherwise it is no longer a pretext, but a reason.

Asking or refusing is much easier over the phone. When you do not see the face of the interlocutor, the imagination loses its support.

The most striking memory is the memory of a woman in love.

Advice is always confession.

Old age is a bad habit that very busy people do not have time to acquire.

A telephone conversation is halfway between art and life. This is not a conversation with a person, but with the image that develops in you when you listen to him.

Comrades bring up much better than parents, because they are not characterized by pity.

The only tragic thing about death is that it turns life into destiny.

In most people, lethargy and laziness are stronger than even their ambition. Hence the success of fools.

Walpole said of Marshal de Richelieu: "People laugh, not yet knowing what he will say, and rightly so, because then they will certainly not laugh." A wit that applies to most professional wits.

The artist is a liar, but art is the truth.

An obituary is the shortest and most flattering job description.

The Middle Ages date back to two of the worst inventions in human history: romantic love and gunpowder.

Business is a combination of war and sport.

Scenes are only effective when they are rare. Fewer scenes, madame, but with more brilliance!

Sublime love requires leisure.

The only thing experience teaches us is that experience teaches us nothing.

A woman does not want to be talked about her amorous affairs, but she wants everyone to know that she is loved.

Nice husbands are not always nice husbands.

Life is short, that's understandable; but compared to what?

To despise money is easy for a rich person or one who is deprived of needs.

People love to hear about themselves so much that they are willing to spend hours discussing their own shortcomings.

Don't rely on public opinion. This is not a lighthouse, but wandering lights.

Men expose their souls, as women expose their bodies, gradually and only after a stubborn struggle.

We don't care how much something costs, as long as it costs us nothing.

Rudeness is the wit of fools.

At the birth of love, lovers talk about the future, at its sunset - about the past.

The most difficult adolescence is between thirty and forty.

People have the hardest time forgiving us the bad things they said about us.

A happy marriage is a long conversation that always seems too short.

Women have a flair: they know how not to notice the unpleasant.

Charm is ease of feeling, just as grace is ease of movement.

Time is the most honest critic.

In love and literature, we are drawn to what others choose.

Beware of politeness. This quality induces both men and women to commit more folly than the worst faults.

Business is a combination of war and sport.

Marriage without love is legalized prostitution.

The great power of women is in their absence.

A great writer must cover all aspects of human existence.

A true thought, if repeated too often, loses its power.

The writer's imagination is born from a real feeling.

To educate means to elevate the mind and character, it means to lead to the heights.

Everything that fits our desires seems right. Anything that contradicts them infuriates us.

A gift chosen with love is recognized immediately by the desire to guess the taste of the addressee, by the originality of the idea, by the very manner of presenting the gift.

If we dig a little, we can discover the base motives underlying even the most commendable.

A cheerful woman becomes a refuge for her husband in moments of failure; endlessly complaining, she is like a leaky roof through which water pours all the time. She doesn't hide, she irritates.

A woman can be a person or a thing. She is a person if she does not depend on the person she loves, if she is the mistress of her judgments and plans, her body and thoughts. She is a thing if she allows herself to be treated as a thing, perhaps beautiful and precious, but not having a will of her own, subject to the desires and whims of the owner - something like a pleasant meal that satisfies hunger.

The art of aging is to be a support for the young, not an obstacle, a teacher, not a rival, understanding, not indifferent.

Everyone is convinced that others are wrong when they judge him, and that he is not wrong when he judges others.

You can learn to write a book by just starting to write. In this trade, as in any other, one should, after a brief hesitation, throw oneself into the water.

You can become a novelist or a historian, but playwrights are born.

The man is a contradiction. Ebb and flow.

Don't try to turn parenting into a series of pleasures. Only effort will give the necessary strength to the mind.

It's not enough to be smart. You have to be smart enough not to let yourself get too smart.

There is no enemy more cruel than a former friend.

One should never regret that a person is overwhelmed by passions. It's the same as if we began to regret that he is human.

Nothing binds like jealousy.

Like gas molecules changing their trajectory every moment under the influence of countless impacts, human beings are constantly subject to chance.

Reverence almost always ends with an insult to the one who was venerated.

Poetry is an excitement that is remembered in peace.

Promotion of violence is tantamount to violence itself.

The most modest gift can delight, but on the condition that the donor's resources are also small. However, a wealthy person should give a little more than prudence dictates. Who does not give too much, gives too little.

The most difficult thing in a dispute is not so much to defend your point of view as to have a clear idea about it.

The most beloved women were those whom the beloved rarely saw.

Getting old is just a bad habit that busy people don't have time for.

Old age begins the day courage dies.

Old age does not forget its tender experience and loves to give good advice, as it can no longer set bad examples.

The rich man has companions and hangers-on, the powerful man has courtiers, the man of action has comrades, and they are also his friends.

A successful marriage is a building that needs to be reconstructed every time.

The effort you make to make amends for your interlocutor's tactlessness is much more painful for him than the tactlessness itself.