Literary Birthday – 21 June – Françoise Sagan

Françoise Sagan was born 21 June 1935, and died 24 September 2004.

Nine Quotes

I shall live badly if I do not write, and I shall write badly if I do not live.
I have loved to the point of madness; that which is called madness, that which to me, is the only sensible way to love.
Art must take reality by surprise.
The one thing I regret is that I will never have time to read all the books I want to read.
The questions I would have liked to ask people were: ‘Are you in love?’ ‘What are you reading?’
For me writing is a question of finding a certain rhythm. I compare it to the rhythms of jazz.
Of course the illusion of art is to make one believe that great literature is very close to life, but exactly the opposite is true. Life is amorphous, literature is formal.
Nothing brings on jealousy like laughter.
It amused me to think that one can tell the truth when one is drunk and nobody will believe it.

Françoise Sagan was a French playwright, novelist, and screenwriter. She is best known for her novel, Bonjour Tristesse.

Source for photograph