Henri Barbusse Quotes

A collection of quotes by Henri Barbusse.

Henri Barbusse (1873-1935) was a French novelist, journalist, and World War I veteran. He gained international fame with his novel "Le Feu" (Under Fire), published in 1916. Inspired by his experiences as a soldier, the novel depicted the harsh realities of war. Barbusse was a leading figure in the literary movement known as the "Proletarian Literature," which aimed to give voice to the working class and illuminate social issues. His other notable works include "ClartÃ©" (Clarity) and "L'Enfer" (Hell). Barbusse's writings had a profound impact on the literary and social landscape of early 20th-century France.

He who would dig right down to the truth must simplify; his

He who would dig right down to the truth must simplify; his faith must be brutally simple, or he is lost. Laugh at the subtle shades and distinctions of the rhetoricians and the specialist physicians. Say aloud: This is what is, and then, That is what must be.

Truth Faith Rights

There have been those who magnificently dared. There have be

There have been those who magnificently dared. There have been bearers of the truth, men who groped in the world's tumult, trying to make plain order of it. They discover what we did not yet know; chiefly they discover what we no longer knew.

Men Truth Order

I lifted my glass to my lips when suddenly I stopped and fel

I lifted my glass to my lips when suddenly I stopped and felt all my blood rush to my heart. This is what I heard: What's the theme of the novel you're working on? Truth, replied Pierre Villiers. What? exclaimed his friend. A succession of human beings caught just as they are.

The people who live my truth, what do they say when they spe

The people who live my truth, what do they say when they speak of themselves? Does the echo of what I am thinking issue from their mouths, or error, or falsehood?

Truth is simple. They who say that truth is complicated dece

Truth is simple. They who say that truth is complicated deceive themselves, and the truth is not in them.

I proclaim the inevitable advent of the universal republic.

I proclaim the inevitable advent of the universal republic. Not the transient backslidings, nor the darkness and the dread, nor the tragic difficulty of uplifting the world everywhere at once will prevent the fulfillment of international truth.

This is the subject, said Pierre Villiers. It gives me scope

This is the subject, said Pierre Villiers. It gives me scope to amuse and tell the truth at the same time. A man pierces a hole in the wall of a boarding-house room, and watches what is going on in the next room.

Time Truth Man Thetimes

To understand life, and love it to its depths in a living be

To understand life, and love it to its depths in a living being, that is the being's task, and that his masterpiece; and each of us can hardly occupy his time so greatly as with one other; we have only one true neighbor down here.

Life Time Love Thetimes