Bean

“In our world, that's the way you live your grown-up life: you must constantly rebuild your identity as an adult, the way it's been put together it is wobbly, ephemeral, and fragile, it cloaks despair and, when you're alone in front of the mirror, it tells you the lies you need to believe.”
― Muriel Barbery, The Elegance of the Hedgehog

“Papa is just a kid who's playing the dead serious grown-up.”
― Muriel Barbery

“There was only one thing I wanted: to be left alone, without too many demand upon my person, so that for a few moments each day I might be allowed to assuage my hunger.”
― Muriel Barbery, The Elegance of the Hedgehog

“What is an aristocrat? A woman who is never sullied by vulgarity, although she may be surrounded by it.”
― Muriel Barbery, The Elegance of the Hedgehog