Jean Racine
Jean Racine
Jean Racine, baptismal name Jean-Baptiste Racine, was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, and an important literary figure in the Western tradition. Racine was primarily a tragedian, producing such "examples of neoclassical perfection" as Phèdre, Andromaque, and Athalie, although he did write one comedy, Les Plaideurs, and a muted tragedy, Esther, for the young...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionPlaywright
Date of Birth22 December 1639
CountryFrance
Love is not dumb. The heart speaks many ways.
I will die if I lose you, but I will die if I wait longer.
And forever goodbye! Forever! Oh, Sir, can you imagine how dreadful this cruel word sounds when one loves?
A noble heart cannot suspect in others the pettiness and malice that it has never felt.
None love, but they who wish to love.
The quarrels of lovers are the renewal of love.
Too much virtue can be criminal.
The glory of my name increases my shame. Less known by mortals, I could better escape their eyes.
It is a maxim of old that among themselves all things are common to friends.
Thank the Gods! My misery exceeds all my hopes!
Honor, without money, is a mere malady.
According as the man is, so must you humour him.
Hell, covering all with its gloomy vapors, has cast shadows on even the holiest eyes.
Love is not a fire to be shut up in a soul. Everything betrays us: voice, silence, eyes; half-covered fires burn all the brighter.