Every great masterpiece is a purification of the world. — Andre Malraux

The artist is not the transcriber of the world, he is its rival. — Andre Malraux

The world of art is not a world of immortality but of metamorphosis. — Andre Malraux

Man knows that the world is not made on a human scale; and he wishes that it were. — Andre Malraux

Genius is not perfected, it is deepened. It does not so much interpret the world as fertilize itself with it. — Andre Malraux

The true painter strives to paint what can only be seen through his world. — Andre Malraux

As for the outside world, the artist is confronted by what he sees; but what he sees is primarily what he looks at. — Andre Malraux

An artist discovers his genius the day he dares not to please. — Andre Malraux

In so far as he is a creator, the artist does not belong to a social group already moulded by a culture, but to a culture which he is by way of building up. — Andre Malraux

Every young man’s heart is a graveyard in which are inscribed the names of a thousand dead artists but whose only actual denizens are a few mighty, often antagonistic, ghosts. — Andre Malraux

The ordinary man puts up a struggle against all that is not himself, whereas it is against himself, in a limited but all–essential field, that the artist has to battle. — Andre Malraux

The crucial discovery was made that, in order to become painting, the universe seen by the artist had to become a private one created by himself. — Andre Malraux

Chanel, General De Gaulle and Picasso are the three most important figures of our time. — Andre Malraux

In art, we are the first heirs of all the earth. . . . Accidents impair and Time transforms, but it is we who choose. — Andre Malraux

History may clarify our understanding of the supreme work of art, but can never account for it completely; for the Time of art is not the same as the Time of history. — Andre Malraux

One can fool life for a long time, but in the end it always makes us what we were intended to be. — Andre Malraux

In a world in which everything is subject to the passing of time, art alone is both subject to time and yet victorious over it. — Andre Malraux

The first duty of a leader is to make himself be loved without courting love. To be loved without ‘playing up’ to anyone–even to himself. — Andre Malraux

I don’t argue with my enemies; I explain to their children. — Andre Malraux

He who has dreamed for long resembles his dream. — Andre Malraux

Christ…an anarchist who succeeded. That’s all. — Andre Malraux

Always, however brutal an age may actually have been, its style transmits its music only. — Andre Malraux

Man is not what he thinks he is, he is what he hides. — Andre Malraux

If you can’t make art, make your life a work of art. — Andre Malraux

The terrible thing about death is that it transforms life into destiny. — Andre Malraux

The present age delights in unearthing a great man’s secrets; for one thing because we like to temper our admiration and also perhaps we have a vague hope of finding a clue to genius in such ‘revelations. — Andre Malraux

To understand what the outside of an aquarium looks like, it’s better not to be a fish. — Andre Malraux

The attempt to force human beings to despise themselves is what I call hell. — Andre Malraux

If man is not ready to risk his life, where is his dignity? — Andre Malraux

The most important thing in life is to see to it that you are never beaten. — Andre Malraux

A break in the established order is never the work of chance. It is the outcome of a man’s resolve to turn life to account. — Andre Malraux

A political leader is necessarily an imposter since he believes in solving life’s problems without asking its question. — Andre Malraux

The truth of a man is first and foremost what he hides. — Andre Malraux

The next century’s task will be to rediscover its gods. — Andre Malraux

To love a painting is to feel that this presence is … not an object but a voice. — Andre Malraux

Between eigtheen and twenty, life is like an exchange where one buys stocks, not with money, but with actions. Most men buy nothing. — Andre Malraux