French writer Bernard Verber is one of the most mysterious and extraordinary writers of our time, who created a lot of noise with his novels, in which he tells the history of mankind in a completely new way. Werber's novels combine fantasy, mysticism and deep philosophy.
Bernard Werber began writing at the age of 7, and already at 16 he began creating a book that brought him worldwide popularity. He writes about ants, angels, gods, interstellar space and the history of civilization, and each of his books inspires serious and global reflection.
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We offer you 22 of the most famous quotes from the French science fiction writer that will help you think and look at life from a different angle.
- Love your enemies. This is the best way to get on their nerves.
- To find out the price of a year, ask a student who failed an exam.
To find out the price of a month, ask a mother who gave birth prematurely.
To find out the price of the week, ask the editor of the weekly magazine.
To find out the price of an hour, ask a lover waiting for his beloved.
To find out the price of a minute, ask someone who is late for the train.
To find out the value of a second, ask someone who has lost a loved one in a car accident.
To find out the value of one thousandth of a second, ask an Olympic silver medalist.
- People don't want to create their own happiness, they only want to reduce unhappiness.
- Men are so easy to manipulate. It is enough for a woman to be independent from them for them to want to depend on her.
- Be quiet. Look at the stars and appreciate that you are alive.
- Everything “breathes”, and there is no need to be afraid that inhalation is followed by exhalation. The worst thing is to try to stop or block your breathing. Then you will inevitably suffocate.
- The task of a perfect woman is to be a mother, and a lover, and a warrior, and an initiator. Then we can say that the princess has become a queen. The task of a perfect man is to be a farmer, and a nomad, and a builder, and a warrior. Then we can say that the prince has become a king. And when the perfect king meets the perfect queen, something magical happens. There is passion and long-term relationships. But this rarely happens.
- Humor and love are two of the most powerful painkillers.
- There will always be a huge difference between those who ask, “Why doesn’t it work?” and those who ask “How to make everything work out?”
- To find the right path, you must first get lost.
- There is always a choice in life! Take action or run away. Farewell or revenge. Love it or hate it. But don't be idle!
- Anyone who asks a question risks being branded a fool for five minutes. He who does not ask questions will remain a fool for life.
- You can laugh at anything, but not with just anyone.
- In life we encounter only those problems that we can solve.
- Why did God create man first and then woman? Because to create a masterpiece you need a sketch!
- Life is wonderful. Don't believe rumors. Life is wonderful. Life is a tested product, it has been used by 70 billion people for three million years. This proves its perfect quality.
- Or maybe love is not when people look in the same direction, but when they close their eyes and still see each other.
- Without loving anyone, people are accustomed to pretending that they love everyone.
- We are all winners. Since everyone came from a champion sperm that defeated three million competitors.
- If your words are no more interesting than silence, be silent!
- Angry people are fearful people who strike out of fear that they will be hit.
- Everything needs to be done on time. Yesterday was too early, tomorrow will be too late.
Angry people are fearful people who strike out of fear that they will be hit.
Develop your strengths instead of trying to improve your weaknesses.
Bernard Werber, "Empire of Angels"In life we only encounter problems that we can solve.
Bernard Werber, "Empire of Angels"Rely on time. All masks fall sooner or later. When someone walks on their toes to appear as tall as possible, they eventually become tired of the activity.
Bernard Werber, "Star Butterfly"They are being sentenced!
- Why? To hell?
- Hell? Unfortunately, it doesn't exist. There is only Heaven and... Earth.
Reality is what continues to exist when you stop believing in it.
Bernard Werber, "Empire of Angels"If someone has done you wrong, do not try to take revenge on him, sit on the bank of the river, and soon you will see the corpse of your offender float past you on the water.
Bernard Werber, "Encyclopedia of Relative and Absolute Knowledge"To understand the system, you need to get out of it.
Bernard Werber, "Empire of Angels"Never explain yourself. Never make excuses. As soon as you try to explain your actions, you will immediately be considered guilty.
Bernard Werber, "The Secret of the Gods"There is nothing that you can't do without. A person never becomes happier if he suddenly got the job, money, love he wanted. Real great happiness is associated with an unexpected event that far exceeds a person's expectations. We behave like eternal Santa Clauses. Those who ask for a toy train get one. And those who don't ask for anything can get much more. Stop asking and only then can you be satisfied.
Bernard Werber, "Empire of Angels"To find out the price of a year, ask a student who failed an exam.
To find out the price of a month, ask a mother who gave birth prematurely.
To find out the price of the week, ask the editor of the weekly magazine.
To find out the price of an hour, ask a lover waiting for his beloved.
To find out the price of a minute, ask someone who is late for the train.
To find out the value of a second, ask someone who has lost a loved one in a car accident.
To find out the value of one thousandth of a second, ask an Olympic silver medalist.
There are two ways to deal with adversity - either you avoid it or you go through it.
Bernard Werber, "Ants"People have petty and ridiculous desires. Sometimes it seems to me that they are afraid to be happy. They don't want to create their own happiness, they only want to reduce unhappiness.
Bernard Werber, "Empire of Angels"Love your enemies if only to get on their nerves.
Bernard Werber, "Empire of Angels"To find a needle in a haystack, just burn the hay and hold a magnet over the ashes.
Bernard Werber, "Empire of Angels"Bernard Werber
Born into a Jewish family. At the age of 5, Bernard showed a special interest in drawing. His passion was noticed by the teacher, who even provided the child with special learning conditions - Bernard could freely practice drawing while the rest were studying.
At the age of seven, Bernard wrote his first work - a story on a free theme, “The Adventures of a Flea.” It told from the point of view of the flea itself about its journey through the wilds of the human body.
At the age of eight, Bernard wrote his second story, “The Magic Castle.” The mystery of a castle that devours visitors. The young writer discovers a new genre and independently learns to create an exciting plot. At the same time, at the insistence of his mother, he learns to play the piano; later this activity, which he does not like, will result in a passion for the electric guitar. Bernard continues to write, discovering new facets for himself.
In 1983, he received the News Foundation Award for Best Young Reporter for his report on a species of ant living in the Ivory Coast.
Then, for 7 years, without much success, he worked in the magazine “Le Nouvel Observateur” - he wrote articles on scientific and pseudo-scientific topics: about space, medicine, artificial intelligence, sociology, etc. After a clash with management, he was fired.
In 1991, his first novel, Ants, was published. Contrary to the author's expectations, the book did not attract much attention. Critics did not appreciate Werber's ideas. In 1992, the continuation of “Ants”, the novel “Day of the Ant,” was unexpectedly published. Werber continues to try to reach critics by expressing his ideas through the mouths and actions of ants. Critics remain unshaken, while Werber's novels attract more and more reader interest. "Day of the Ants" won the Elle readers' prize.
The book “Fathers of Our Fathers,” which could be called an anthropological detective story, came out completely unexpectedly for readers in 1998. In it, Werber for the first time writes into the narrative his own Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, whom he later uses in the 2001 novel The Last Secret. Sherlock Holmes is Isidore Katzenberg, a fat science journalist, an inventive and sensitive character who lives in a water pumping building on the outskirts of Paris. Dr. Watson is Lucretia Nemrod, a young and petite journalist, full of vital energy, an orphan and a former thief, hard-hearted, throwing herself into action without a second thought.
Quotes and sayings
To find out the price of a year, ask a student who failed an exam. To find out the price of a month, ask a mother who gave birth prematurely. To find out the price of the week, ask the editor of the weekly magazine. To find out the price of an hour, ask a lover waiting for his beloved. To find out the price of a minute, ask someone who is late for the train. To find out the value of a second, ask someone who has lost a loved one in a car accident. To find out the value of one thousandth of a second, ask an Olympic silver medalist.
A friend is the one whose betrayal comes as the biggest surprise to us.
“People have petty and ridiculous desires. Sometimes it seems to me that they are afraid to be happy. All their problems can be summed up in one phrase: “They don’t want to create their own happiness, they only want to reduce unhappiness.”
In life we only encounter problems that we can solve.
Love your enemies. This is the best way to get on their nerves.
Men are so easy to manipulate. It is enough for a woman to be independent from them for them to want to depend on her.
Love is the victory of imagination over intellect.
Never explain yourself. Never make excuses. As soon as you try to explain your actions, you will immediately be considered guilty.
People don't want to create their own happiness, they only want to reduce unhappiness.
“- Hell? Unfortunately, it doesn't exist. There is only Heaven and... Earth."
Three insults have been dealt to humanity. The first was when Nicolaus Copernicus proved that the Earth is not the center of the Universe. Second, when Charles Darwin came to the conclusion that man descended from apes, and therefore was also an animal. Third, when Sigmund Freud explained that sexuality is at the heart of most of our political moves or artistic expressions.
“He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes, he who does not ask a question is a fool all his life.”
When it's convenient for you, you don't have the slightest reason to want changes in your own life. Only suffering opens our eyes to the world around us and awakens the desire to remake our entire lives.
Believe it or not, it doesn’t matter at all. You just need to ask yourself more and more questions.
Let's not forget that intelligence tests are designed to prove that those who are intelligent are those who have the same intelligence... as the test makers.
Human thought can do anything.
Stop the planet, I want to get off.
We will make all possible mistakes, because otherwise we will not know why we should not have made them.
“The more difficult the obstacle, the more it forces us to surpass ourselves.”
There is no fear unless you allow it to exist.
The day comes when you can't be alone anymore.
Living together means solving problems together that would not have arisen if you had not started living together.
All the evil that we wish on others is taken into account and then returns to us like a boomerang.
Everything is in one (Abraham). Everything is love (Jesus Christ). Everything is sex (Sigmund Freud). Everything is economics (Karl Max). Everything is relative (Albert Einstein). What next?
Love is not when people look in the same direction, but when they close their eyes and still see each other.
The one who didn’t want to when he could... won’t be able to when he wants to.
You need to help only those who can bear it and not reproach you later.
True victory is always hard won. If you defeat your opponent too easily, it doesn't count.
“The one who loves the most suffers, and the one who is bored, as a rule, decides to break up. But still... it’s better for the one who loves.”
“The question is sometimes more interesting than the answer.”
“Life is wonderful. Don't listen to talkers. Life is wonderful. Life is a product that has been tested and approved by sixty-six billion people over three million years. This proves its excellent quality."
Books are friends who will never betray.
Real great happiness is associated with an unexpected event that far exceeds a person's expectations.
A nail protruding from a board begs for a hammer blow.
Sometimes people make mistakes in analyzing an event because they limit themselves to a single point of view that seems obvious.
People strive to have the best TVs and the best cars to prove that they are rich and represent a worthy part of the herd.
You can forgive a friend a lot, except that he helped you.
People think more often than they speak, and because of this, a lot of information is lost.
We want others to accept us, but we don’t want to accept ourselves...
The secret of freedom is the library.
Nothing annoys me more than these adults who don’t listen to children and imagine that they know everything.
According to sociologist Philippe Peissel, female character is subject to four main tendencies: 1) mother; 2) mistress; 3) warrior; 4) mentor. The mother devotes her main attention to creating a family, giving birth and raising children. The mistress loves to seduce and strives for passionate love affairs. The warrior strives to seize territories of power, fights for ideas or political goals. The mentor is interested in art, spirituality or healing. This is the ideal muse, teacher, doctor. Such women were once Vestal Virgins. Every woman develops these traits to a greater or lesser extent. Problems often arise because a woman’s character may not correspond to the role imposed on her by society. Forcing a mistress to be a mother and a warrior to be a mentor can provoke cruel tragedies. Men also have four main characters: 1) peasant; 2) nomad; 3) builder; 4) warrior. In the Bible we meet Abel the nomad tending his flock and Cain the peasant busy cultivating crops. Cain kills Abel, and God gives him punishment, saying: “You will roam the lands.” Cain, a perfect peasant at heart, is forced to become a nomad. He must do something for which he is not predisposed. And he suffers from this. The only union that can lead to a long marriage is “mother and peasant.” Both of them strive for constancy and peace. All other couples can unite and experience great passion, but over time, conflicts between them will be inevitable. The goal of an accomplished woman is to become a mother, a lover, a warrior, and a mentor. Only then can we say that the princess has turned into a queen. The goal of an accomplished man is to become a peasant, a nomad, a builder, and a warrior. Only then can we say that the prince has turned into a king. And when an accomplished king meets an accomplished queen, something magical happens. Both passion and consistency come. But this happens so rarely.
Pessimists are well-informed optimists.
There are two ways to deal with adversity, either you avoid it or you go through it.
Notice where the enemy is aiming, often this is his own weak point. (Shli-pu-kan).
What a strange world we live in. When you are a war hero, they spit in your face, and when you have cancer, they adore you.
Parenting is a profession in which it is impossible to succeed. We must limit ourselves to causing as little harm as possible.
Humanity will be doomed the day people no longer have the desire to surpass themselves.
Most great discoveries are made by mistake. Murphy's Law
They only try to reduce their suffering, instead of creating their happiness.
Reality is what you believe in.
Weak people take revenge, strong people forgive. Even stronger ones ignore them.
A beautiful game is better than victory at any cost.
In this case, I declare you husband and wife, share both happiness and sorrow together, until... the lack of love separates you.
On the birthday of the French writer and philosopher, Woman's Day selected quotes from his bestsellers that make you think about the meaning of life.
About man and woman
“We think that we love another person, but what we really love is his attitude towards us. We recognize ourselves in others, as in a mirror. We love ourselves, our own reflection in our partner” (“Breath of the Gods”).
“If you tell a person with conviction: I predict that you will have money, he will do everything to make this happen... Because they want our prophecies to come true. If you say: I predict that you will meet great love, they will put their whole soul into the next romantic relationship" ("Cassandra's Mirror").
Or maybe love is not when people look in the same direction, but when they close their eyes and still see each other? ("The Mirror of Cassandra")
“To create a married couple, it takes four: a man plus his part of femininity and a woman plus her part of masculinity. Two complete beings no longer look for in the other what they lack. They can unite without dreaming of an ideal woman or an ideal man, because they have already found them in themselves” (“Empire of Angels”).
“Love doesn't kill. Love saves" ("The Last Secret").
“The task of the perfect woman is to be a mother, and a lover, and a warrior, and an initiator. Then we can say that the princess has become a queen. The task of a perfect man is to be a farmer, and a nomad, and a builder, and a warrior. Then we can say that the prince has become a king. And when the perfect king meets the perfect queen, something magical happens. There is passion and long-term relationships. But this rarely happens” (“Empire of Angels”).
“With Natalie I learned what it means to be a real married couple. This can be summed up in one word: “complicity.” The word "love" is too vulgarized to retain its meaning. Complicity. Assistance. Trust" ("Empire of Angels").
About the person
"Human. Its symbol is a cross. Because he has a choice. He is at a crossroads where he needs to make a decision about where to go. A person has a choice: to descend to the animal level or to move to a higher stage. Sage. He has a horizontal line of affection for the sky and a curve of love for the earth. He flies in his thoughts and loves the world...” (“Empire of Angels”).
“The evil ones are fearful people who strike out of fear of being hit” (“Empire of Angels”).
Every person has his own “instructions”. You just need to find the main button. To do this, you need to imagine him as a child and ask yourself the question: “What was he missing then?” ("The Last Secret")
“A person is neither completely bad nor completely good; no one can be judged by their clothes or profession. Even among the bourgeoisie and the police there are excellent people, even among the poor and homeless there are scoundrels. Wherever you go, you will always meet a kind person” (“Mirror of Cassandra”).
“The recipe for the soul: at first the human soul is determined by three factors - heredity, karma, free choice. As a rule, they are first presented in the following proportion: 25% heredity, 25% karma, 50% free choice” (“Empire of Angels”).
It is the duty of every person to cultivate his inner joy (“Empire of Angels”)
“Pulling in the wrong direction is sometimes much more effective than pulling in the right direction, because it leads to a leap of consciousness” (“Empire of Angels”).
“It is enough to rise to the level of one soul, and the level of all humanity will rise” (“Empire of Angels”).
About life
The world is full of little details that give us all the information we need (“Empire of Angels”)
“There is nothing that you can’t do without. A person never becomes happier if he suddenly got the job, money, love he wanted. Real great happiness is associated with an unexpected event that far exceeds a person's expectations. We behave like eternal Santa Clauses. Those who ask for a toy train get one. And those who don't ask for anything can get much more. Stop asking, and only then can you be satisfied” (“Empire of Angels”).
