Colette - Quodid

About

Picture of Colette

Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (French: [sidɔni ɡabʁijɛl kɔlɛt]; 28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954), known mononymously as Colette or as Colette Willy, was a French author and woman of letters. She was also a mime, actress, and journalist. Colette is best known in the English-speaking world for her 1944 novella Gigi, which was the basis for the 1958 film and the 1973 stage production of the same name. Her short story collection The Tendrils of the Vine is also famous in France.

Quotes from Colette

What a wonderful life I've had! I only wish I'd realized it sooner.

It was on that road and at that hour that I first became aware of my own self, experienced an inexpressible state of grace, and felt at one with the first breath of air that stirred, the first bird, and the sun so newly born that it still looked not quite round.

It's so curious: one can resist tears and "behave" very well in the hardest hours of grief. But then someone makes you a friendly sign behind a window, or one notices that a flower that was in bud only yesterday has suddenly blossomed, or a letter slips from a drawer . . . and everything collapses.

It is wise to apply the oil of refined politeness to the mechanisms of friendship.

Total absence of humor renders life impossible.

The true traveler is he who goes on foot, and even then, he sits down a lot of the time.

A happy childhood is poor preparation for human contacts.

happiness childhood preparation

You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm.

I love my past. I love my present. I'm not ashamed of what I've had, and I'm not sad because I have it no longer.

We only do well the things we like doing.