Emile Zola

Keep well; that is the half of wisdom and of happiness.

I believe that the future of humanity is in the progress of reason through science. I believe that the pursuit of truth, through science, is the divine ideal which man should propose to himself.

In my view you cannot claim to have seen something until you have photographed it.

The fate of animals is of greater importance to me than the fear of appearing ridiculous; it is indissolubly connected with the fate of men.

Perfection is such a nuisance that I often regret having cured myself of using tobacco.

In Paris, everything's for sale: wise virgins, foolish virgins, truth and lies, tears and smiles.

People like comfort; that's natural. But as for making money simply for the sake of making it, and giving yourself far more trouble and anxiety to gain it than you can ever get pleasure from it when it's gained, why, as for me, I'd rather sit still and cross my arms.

Selling beauty is something I can understand. Even selling false beauty seems perfectly natural; it's a sign of progress.

I defy you to find any real will, any reasoning force, outside of life. And everything is there; there is, in the world, no other will than this force which impels everything to life, a life even broader and higher.

One forges one's style on the terrible anvil of daily deadlines.

I believe that all is illusion and vanity outside the treasure of truths slowly accumulated, and which will never again be lost. I believe that the sum of these truths, always increasing, will at last confer on man incalculable power and peace, if not happiness. Yes, I believe in the final triumph of life.

There are two men inside the artist, the poet and the craftsman. One is born a poet. One becomes a craftsman.

When people have not the same ideas, it is certainly better not to talk about them.

The thought is a deed. Of all deeds she fertilizes the world most.

Up to this day, there has been no proof of the existence of any intelligence other than the human.

One must be arrogant, indeed, to imagine that one can take everything in one's hand and know everything!

If I cannot overwhelm with my quality, I will overwhelm with my quantity.

Vines will be planted, corn will spring up, a whole growth of new crops; and people will still fall in love in vintages and harvests yet to come. Life is eternal; it is a perpetual renewal of birth and growth.

If you shut up truth, and bury it underground, it will but grow.

If you ask me what I came into this life to do, I will tell you: I came to live out loud.