Andreï Makine Quotes

France, Novelist
September 10, 1957

Andreï Sergueïevitch Makine is a Russian-born French novelist. He also publishes under the pseudonym Gabriel Osmonde. Makine's novels include Dreams of My Russian Summers (1995) which won two top French awards, the Prix Goncourt and the Prix Médicis. He was elected to seat 5 of the Académie française on 3 March 2016, succeeding Assia Djebar.

The translator of prose is the slave of the author, and the translator of poetry is his rival.

Andreï Makine
- Slave
- Rival
- Translator
The life these words speak of is not worth the ink they are written in.... He now knows that the only words worth writing down arise when language is impossible.

Andreï Makine

This sacrifice, which saved his life, reminded him again that the evil of this world could be put to rout by the will of a single human being.

Andreï Makine
- Evil
- Sacrifice
- Will
An exile's only country is his country's literature.

Andreï Makine
- Country
- Literature
- Exile
They did not speak, surprised to see how simple, almost poor, happiness could be, yes, materially poor and yet so abundant.

Andreï Makine
- Happiness
- Poor
- Surprised
...she studies to be equal in a world that is no longer surprised at anything.

Andreï Makine
- World
- Equal
- Surprised
People speak because they are afraid of silence. They speak mechanically whether aloud or to themselves. They are intoxicated by this vocal gruel that ensnares every object and every being. They talk about rain and fine weather; they talk about money, about love, about nothing. And even when they are talking about their most exalted love, they use words uttered a hundred times, threadbare phrases.

Andreï Makine
- People
- Silence
- Speak
The fatal mistake we make is looking for a paradise that endures...This obsession with what lasts causes us to overlook many a fleeting paradise.

Andreï Makine
- Mistake
- Looking
- Paradise

Their own life together was like a subtle watercolor sketch, invisible to other people. They gave the world what it required of them and for the rest of the time were content to be forgotten.

Andreï Makine
- Life
- Forgotten
- Invisible
Love is in essence subversive.

Andreï Makine
- Love
- Essence
In war the most testing moments are those of peace , for a dead man lying in the grass makes the living see the world as it would be, but for their folly.

Andreï Makine
- World
- War
- Peace