I write regularly about the fact that the whole country of France inspires the imagination. As a result, France brings out the creative side in many who choose to visit and in those who make the eventual decision to call France home.
Artists, sculptors, musicians and culinary geniuses all flock to France. And the same is true of writers.
France is a magnet for writers.
It is simply beyond me to imagine how many words have been written about France, and specifically Paris, over the centuries.
These words have been written by the famous and the not so well known, sometimes recently but very often years ago.
Novels. Memoirs. Poetry. Essays. Text books. Photo-books. The list of works on Paris could go on for quite a while.
All these publications have led to a seemingly endless number of quotes about Paris. To celebrate all this creativity, I thought I’d take a moment to list our very favourite quotes.
There are only two places in the world where we can live happy: at home and in Paris. – Ernest Hemingway.
Paris at dawn is one of those rare cities where you get the impression that something worthwhile could actually happen to you. – Pierre Assouline, The Light of Paris.
Whoever does not visit Paris regularly will never really be elegant. – Honoré de Balzac.
Paris…is loath to surrender itself to people who are in a hurry; it belongs to the dreams, to those capable of amusing themselves in its streets without regard to time when urged business requires their presence elsewhere. – Julien Green, Paris.
When spring comes to Paris the humblest mortal alive must feel that he dwells in paradise. – Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer.
If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast. – Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast.
I cannot tell you what an immense impression Paris made upon me. It is the most extraordinary place in the world! – Charles Dickens.
He who contemplates the depths of Paris is seized with vertigo. Nothing is more fantastic. Nothing is more tragic. Nothing is more sublime. – Victor Hugo.
A walk about Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of life. – Thomas Jefferson.
Paris is always a good idea. – Audrey Hepburn (as Sabrina Fairchild), Sabrina.
Do you have a favourite quote about Paris? Perhaps one of the above, or maybe something different? Either way I’d love for you to share it in the comments section below.
And until next time – au revoir.
