The Little French Bistro Quotes

“Any man who loves a woman as she deserves to be loved is a magician.”
― Nina George, The Little French Bistro

“One might have to be a little ruthless to seize back control of one's life, don't you think?”
― Nina George, The Little French Bistro

“Life wasn’t too short: it was too long to waste unduly on non-love, non-laughter and non-decisions. And it began when you first took a risk, failed and realized that you’d survived the failure. With that knowledge, you could risk anything.”
― Nina George, The Little French Bistro

“I don't know why we women believe that sacrificing our desires makes us more attractive to men. What on earth are we thinking? That someone who goes without her wishes deserves to be loved more than she who follows her dreams?”
― Nina George, The Little French Bistro

“Every woman is a priestess if she loves life and can work magic on herself and those who are sacred to her. It’s time for women to remind themselves of the powers they have inside.”
― Nina George, The Little French Bistro

“Loving is different from being loved. Giving and seeing how a person flourishes and feeds off your love: the amount of power you possess, and the fact that that power makes someone the best they can be.”
― Nina George, The Little French Bistro

“The radiance of this beautiful scene shed a cruel light on every past horror, every insult tolerated, every unspoken retort, every gesture of rejection. Marianne was grieving, and her boundless grief made her regret every moment of cowardice in her life.”
― Nina George, The Little French Bistro

“...Time had seemed infinite when she still had many years and decades ahead of her. A book waiting to be written: as a girl, that was how she had seen her future life. Now she was sixty, and the pages were blank. Infinity had passed like one long continuous day.”
― Nina George, The Little French Bistro

“Death is not free. Its price is life.”
― Nina George, The Little French Bistro

“I don’t know why we women believe that sacrificing our desires makes us more attractive to men. What on earth are we thinking? That someone who goes without her wishes deserves to be loved more than she who follows her dreams? It’s exactly what I thought. The more I sacrificed, the happier I was. The longer I went without, the stronger was my hope that Lothar would give me what I needed. I believed that if I didn’t ask for anything, made no reproaches, didn’t demand my own room or my own money, didn’t cause any arguments, the miracle would come to pass. That he would say, Oh, how much you have sacrificed! How my love for you has grown, because you sacrificed yourself for me! How crazy that was. I was so proud of myself and my capacity for suffering: I wanted to be perfect at it. The more complete my uncomplaining acquiescence became, the greater his love would one day be. And my greatest abnegation - renouncing my own life - would have secured me his undying love. Does love have to be earned through suffering?”
― Nina George, The Little French Bistro

“The beach was empty, no footprints in the sand, and yet they were all there: the dead, the night and the sea. The sea offered her a song of bravery and love. It came from a long way away, as if someone somewhere in the world had sung it many years ago, for those on the shore who didn't dare to take the plunge.”
― Nina George, The Little French Bistro

“Fashion has nothing to do with style," said Colette in her husky voice. "It all depends on whether you want to conceal or reveal who you are.”
― Nina George, The Little French Bistro

“Every second can mark a new beginning. Open your eyes and see: the world is out there and it wants you.”
― Nina George, The Little French Bistro

“As long as you can walk upright, you will find a walking stick. As long as you are brave, someone will help you.”
― Nina George, The Little French Bistro

“And yet, life as an autonomous woman is not a song. It’s a scream, a war; it’s a daily struggle against the easy option of obeying.”
― Nina George, The Little French Bistro

“He remembered what his father had said when Simon complained about the wild, unruly sea: "Learn to love it, son. Learn to love what you do, whatever it is, and you won't have any problems. You'll suffer, but then you'll feel, and when you feel, you're alive. You need troubles to be alive -- otherwise you're dead!”
― Nina George, The Little French Bistro

“A wood that smells of the sea.”
― Nina George, The Little French Bistro

“If someone suffers and won't change, then they need to suffer.”
― Nina George, The Little French Bistro

“Piety is a sign that a person will do anything to be important in the world,”
― Nina George, The Little French Bistro

“Nothing is colder than a heart that once blazed.”
― Nina George, The Little French Bistro

“Every woman is a priestess if she loves life and can work magic on herself and those who are sacred to her. It's time for women to remind themselves of the powers they have inside. The goddess hates to see abilities go to waste, and women waste their abilities far too often.”
― Nina George, The Little French Bistro

“Everything was to be experienced at the highest pitch of passion and life. To expect something greater after life was to forget that life was the greatest thing of all. He had forgotten that, and now he wanted to live with all his strength and with no further dread.”
― Nina George, The Little French Bistro

“You cannot tell love to come and stay forever. You can only welcome it when it comes, like the summer or the autumn, and when its time is up and it’s gone, then it’s gone. The”
― Nina George, The Little French Bistro

“Oh get down from your cross: we need timber.”
― Nina George, The Little French Bistro

“Learn to love it, son. Learn to love what you do, whatever it is, and you won’t have any problems. You’ll suffer, but then you’ll feel, and when you feel, you’re alive. You need troubles to be alive—otherwise you’re dead!”
― Nina George, The Little French Bistro

“What none of the death-bound could forgive themselves for was what they had left undone. On their deathbeds all had confessed this to Marianne: the things they hadn’t done, the things they hadn’t dared to do.”
― Nina George, The Little French Bistro

“It was easier to hate than to love when your love wasn’t wanted.”
― Nina George, The Little French Bistro

“Paul knew that refusing to dance with a woman was tantamount to ignoring an important aspect of her personality, a slight that she would never fully forget. That was because she had something to offer—her devotion—and she would never truly reveal her soul to a man who didn’t dance with her.”
― Nina George, The Little French Bistro

“music. Music was like a film that she watched on the back of her closed eyelids, and Satie’s music conjured up images of the sea, even though she had never been to the seaside.”
― Nina George, The Little French Bistro

“There was virtually nothing more erotic for certain men than trying to cure a woman of a rival.

A cat, egotistical and devoted and yet wolf-like, brazen in her ingenuous passion and as elegant as a queen.

In love there was only yes or no. No I-don't-know, no maybes; those were merely nos in disguise.”
― Nina George, The Little French Bistro