Emile Zola

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

The truth is on the march and nothing will stop it.

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

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

The fear of life, the fear of burdens and of duties, of annoyances and of catastrophes! The fear of life, which makes us, through dread of its sufferings, refuse its joys. Ah! I tell you, this cowardliness enrages me; I cannot forgive it. We must live - live a complete life - live all our life.

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.

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

I am little concerned with beauty or perfection. I don't care for the great centuries. All I care about is life, struggle, intensity.

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

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.

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.

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