“At times it seems to me that I am living my life backwards, and that at the approach of old age my real youth will begin.”

— André Gide, Pretexts (1964)

About André Gide

1869 – 1951

French writer, Nobel laureate in Literature (1947).

“We call "happiness" a certain set of circumstances that makes joy possible.”

“Be faithful to that which exists nowhere but in yourself — and thus make yourself indispensable.”

“Sin is whatever obscures the soul.”

“The complete life, the perfect pattern, includes old age as well as youth and maturity.”

“No man loves life like him that's growing old.”

“The tragedy of old age is not that one is old, but that one is young.”

“Youth comes but once in a lifetime.”

“No one is so old that he does not think he could live another year.”

“The young have exalted notions, because they have not been humbled by life or learned its necessary limitations.”