Vipers’ Tangle by Françios Mauriac

  • avoid arrogance: “Besides, you had that particular arrogance that takes the form of never looking at other people and is tantamount to denying their existence.” (36)
  • avoid a ritual, automatic marriage - it should always be intentional (68-69, 181)
  • “Nobody can go on indefinitely believing in himself unless he gets some help from outside.” (81)
  • related to purity: “It was quite true, she said: weakness might so easily turn to complicity.” (163)
  • “Conversation is a necessity of all human creatures.” (214)
  • “Even the genuinely good cannot, unaided, learn to love.” (251) —> we all need God
  • “The saints know, and they hate and despise themselves because they see themselves with unclouded eyes.” (252)
  • “It would mean happiness for me if I could reach the heart of one single being before I died.” (261)
  • “One must have the courage to look at what one hates full in the face…” (268)

Source: ND Vision