Romain Gary, the French novelist, diplomat, and aviator, is known for his poignant and thought-provoking quotes that have continued to inspire generations of readers. His works, which spanned across several genres, have garnered widespread acclaim and numerous literary awards. Gary’s unique perspective on life, politics, and human nature is reflected in his powerful and evocative quotes that have become part of the literary canon.
34 Romain Gary Quotes
- “Reality is not an inspiration for literature. At its best, literature is an inspiration for reality.“
2. “Humor is an affirmation of dignity, a declaration of man’s superiority to all that befalls him.”
3. “A man lives on hope. He keeps thinking things will somehow straighten themselves out.”
4. “As for nationalism, it has no right to exist except in football matches.”
5. “Loyalty is not the kind of exclusive deal, it’s just a sincere communication and the same values.”
6. “If there is something that opens horizons, it is precisely ignorance.”
7. “The trouble with hysteria is that it’s contagious.”
8. “A writer’s subconscious is one of the filthiest places there are: as a matter of fact, you can find the whole world there.”
9. “If there is something that opens horizons, it is precisely ignorance.“
10. “I don’t consider myself to be definite, but in waiting position and eventual appearance”
Famous Romain Gary Quotes
11. “All the same I keep on looking for someone incomprehensible who won’t understand me either, because I have a terrible thirst for brotherhood”
12. “As long as you live, you hope. You think that everything will just…get better.”
13. “There is more to Jewish history than Auschwitz.”
14. “I too have often felt the need to understand it all; but I know my limits. In my life I’ve done more suffering than thinking – though I believe one understands better that way.”
15. “Men sometimes die much earlier than they are burried.“
16. “When a war is won, it’s the losers, not the winners, who are liberated”
17. “I’ve had a lot of fun. Good-bye, and thank you.”
18. “I see History as a relay race in which one of us, before dropping in his tracks, must carry one stage further the challenge of being a man.”
19. “I don’t consider myself to be definite, but in waiting position and eventual appearance.”
20. “The only possible answers are questions. Real Vikings are questions. The answers are what the Vikings chanted during the voyage to keep their spirits up.”
21. “For a few minutes I tried to empty my mind entirely, to concentrate solely on breathing: sometimes it’s useful to rediscover simpler pleasures of life.”
22. “All men have a legend because of death. Humanity wasn’t legendary any longer: it was a myth.”
Thought-Provoking Romain Gary Quotes
23. “They thought I suffered from lack of exterior, when I suffered from excess of interior”
24. “Loyalty is not the kind of exclusive deal, it’s just a sincere communication and the same values.”
25. “Since when one has started dreaming, there were so many cries for help and so many bottles thrown into the sea, that it is amazing we still can see the sea when we should see only bottles.”
26. “I always had a strong reluctance to hurt people, which is always the best way of hurting oneself.”
27. “That night I hardly slept a wink, but turned over and over in my tent; never until then had I felt so alone or so deserted. Perhaps even the elephants are too small, I thought, as I stared into the darkness, and we need a far bigger and more affectionate presence at our side.”
28. “The difference between the English and the rest of mankind is that the English have long known the truth about themselves – which makes them always able to evade it discreetly, to slip round it.”
29. “Literature is greater than any of us, dammit.”
30. “Literature “has always been the last refuge, in this world, for those who do not know where to lay their dreaming heads.”
31. “Sometimes I have the feeling that we live in a dubbed movie and everybody moves their lips but the voices don’t correspond. We are all post-synchronized and sometimes is very accomplished and looks natural.”
32. “If the world can no longer afford the luxury of natural beauty, then it will soon be overcome and destroyed by its own ugliness.”
33. “All men have a legend because of death. Humanity wasn’t legendary any longer: it was a myth.”
34. “Some consciences are fitted with automatic answering machine that work very well. But I never got the technology under control.”
Romain Gary, a prolific French writer, was a man of many talents. He served as a pilot, a diplomat, and a filmmaker, in addition to being an accomplished novelist. He wrote more than thirty novels, memoirs, and essays, many of which have been translated into multiple languages and continue to be celebrated for their unique style and insights into the human condition. Despite his remarkable achievements, Gary’s life was also marked by personal struggles, including a tumultuous relationship with his mother and battles with depression.
Additional Read: Romain Gary: A Short Biography